Everything we know about Southend Airport plane crash that killed 4 in fireball
All four people on a plane that erupted into a fireball just moments after taking off from London Southend Airport have died, with questions remaining about how the disaster could have happened.
Flight SUZ1 crashed near the Essex airport's runway on Sunday afternoon, leading officials to shut down all incoming and outgoing travel. UK officials today revealed all four passengers on board the flight were foreign nationals.
Shortly after take-off, the plane rolled to the left, entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed into a grassy area close to the runway. The Beech B200 aircraft was bound for a return flight to Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands when it burst into flames.
In the moments before the crash, the pilots were seen waving to children, according to a witness. John Johnson, from Billericay, added that adults and kids alike had been waving to the pilots just minutes before the crash. He said: "We all waved at the pilots, and they all waved back at us."
This is everything we know about the Southend Airport disaster.
Moments before disaster
Maps from the live tracking service Flightradar24 showed the aircraft briefly taxiing down the runway before taking off and heading in the direction of Rochford. But the route tracking ends with the plane having spent just a few minutes in motion.
The aircraft crashed around 4pm with all four people onboard dying in the incident.
Who were the victims?
All four people who were on board the plane were foreign nationals, according to UK officials. A nurse aboard the private medical jet has been named as German national Maria Fernanda Rojas Ortiz.
The 31-year-old was born in Chile and had married her partner last year. A friend told The Mirror: "They were married last year. It was her first day on the job. She was a hospital nurse but then took a job with a private medical firm, she didn't tell anyone but this was her first day in the job. The firm that owns the plane says there were no survivors."
The pilot and co-pilot were confirmed to have been Dutch nationals while another passenger was said to be a European national. Their identities have not been made public as of publishing.
Investigation launched
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has confirmed it is investigating the crash. Aviation experts say the sharp roll to the left after take-off could indicate a loss of power in one engine, though the aircraft is designed to fly on a single engine.
Lisa Fitzsimons (AAIB) said it was "too early to speculate" on what might have caused the plane crash. She added: "Our focus is on gathering the physical evidence from the accident site and interviewing witnesses.
'The remains of the aircraft will then be recovered to our facility in Farnborough, Hampshire, for further detailed investigation."
When will airport reopen?
London Southend Airport will remain closed until further notice as the investigation continues. The airport's chief executive Jude Winstanley said at a press conference today: "On behalf of everyone at London Southend Airport, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those lost in yesterday's tragic incident.
'We would also like to thank our local community for their messages of support and understanding at this difficult time. Our staff are working closely with the emergency services and air accident investigators to support their work. I would like to thank them for all of their hard work during this period.
'We are in constant dialog with our operating airlines, and as I'm sure everyone will understand, the airport will remain closed until further notice. Passengers should contact their airline for information and advice.'
Flights have been redirected to London Gatwick and Luton.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
6 hours ago
- Sky News
All four people killed in Southend plane crash thought to be foreign nationals, police say
All four people who died in Sunday's plane crash at Southend Airport are thought to have been foreign nationals, police have said. The medical transport aircraft had dropped off a patient and was beginning its journey back to the Netherlands when it crashed at about 3.48pm on Sunday. Two Dutch pilots were among those on board, according to a document which lists passengers, the PA news agency understands. On board too was a Chilean nurse, 31-year-old Maria Fernanda Rojas Ortiz, also known as Fena, Sky News understands. No details have been released about the fourth person's nationality, though Essex Police said the deceased were all foreign nationals. 1:24 John Johnson, who was at the airport with his wife and children, said he saw a "big fireball" exploding across the sky as the plane plunged "head first into the ground". "We all waved at the pilots, and they all waved back at us," he said. "The aircraft then turned 180 degrees to face its take-off, powered up [and] rolled down the runway. "It took off and about three or four seconds [later] it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed just head first into the ground." Mr Johnson added: "There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock [after] witnessing it." Chief Superintendent Morgan Cronin said the plane "got into difficulty" shortly after taking off and "crashed within the airport boundary". He added: "Sadly, we can now confirm that all four people on board died. "We are working to officially confirm their identities. At this stage, we believe all four are foreign nationals." Ambulances and fire crews were also called in. Southend Airport said it would be "closed until further notice" and urged people to contact their airlines. Its staff are "working closely with the emergency services and air accident investigators". Zeusch Aviation, based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, confirmed its flight SUZ1 had been "involved in an accident" at the airport and its thoughts were with "everyone who has been affected". The plane involved is reportedly a Beech B200 Super King Air with twin-propellers. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said a "multi-disciplinary team" arrived at the site on Sunday afternoon. Lisa Fitzsimons, a senior investigator, said it is "too early to speculate" on what may have caused the crash. 0:47 'Airport in lockdown' Wren Stranix, 16, from Woodbridge in Suffolk, was in another aircraft waiting to take off for Newquay in Cornwall with her family and boyfriend when the plane came down. They watched as the emergency services arrived and were unable to leave their seats. "The flight attendant didn't know what was going on," she told Sky News. "They said the plane had exploded and they didn't know if it was safe or not. The airport was in lockdown." EasyJet, one of only a few airlines to use the airport, said all its remaining flights to and from Southend had been "diverted" or were "no longer able to operate". David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, asked people to keep away from the area and "allow the emergency services to do their work" in a post on social media. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "monitoring the situation closely and receiving regular updates". Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said it was "terrible news that four people [had] tragically lost their lives" and he thanked the emergency services.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Spanish court orders cleanup of Galician pig farm pollution in landmark ruling
MADRID, July 11 (Reuters) - The top court in Spain's northwestern Galicia region has ordered that authorities stamp out pollution linked to intensive pig farming in a landmark case highlighting decades-long environmental mismanagement, a court document showed on Friday. Spain, Europe's largest pork producer, houses about a third of its pig farms in Galicia. The court found that for some 20,000 residents of the A Limia area, the fundamental right to living in a healthy environment had been violated. The ruling, condemning both state and regional authorities, marks the first time a European court has addressed the impact of large-scale livestock farming on water sources and residents' human rights, according to environmental groups ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth Spain, which supported the case. It could pave the way for other communities suffering from similar issues to demand justice and protection from authorities, campaigners say. A Limia residents say life has become "unfeasible" due to the proliferation of intensive pig and poultry farms, which brought unbearable odours and contamination from chemicals such as nitrates that seeped into groundwater and water reservoirs. The court stated that regional authorities and the national body overseeing water management failed to act despite legal obligations and awareness of the issues. Government and regional officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ruling can be appealed at Spain's Supreme Court. The court in Galicia ordered that the Galician regional government and the Mino-Sil Hydrographic Confederation take immediate measures to eliminate odours and environmental degradation around the As Conchas water reservoir. The ruling also mandates authorities to ensure clean and safe drinking water free of harmful microorganisms and chemical substances. "Now the authorities have to take action," Pablo Alvarez Veloso, head of the neighbours' association in the As Conchas reservoir area, told Reuters.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Tragic connection between doomed jets: How Air India, MH370 and Germanwings disasters all sparked fears their captains suffered mental health issues - as experts warn not enough is done to help pilots
Investigators probing the crash of Air India Flight 171 have turned their attention to the pilot's medical history amid fears he may have been suffering from mental health issues at the time of the disaster. Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, an experienced pilot with more than 15,000 hours flying time, was piloting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner when it plummeted into a residential area in Ahmedabad, killing all but one of the 242 people on board. Switches controlling the fuel flow to the jet's two engines were turned off shortly after take off, a preliminary report released by the Indian authorities has indicated, resulting in a catastrophic loss of power and the aircraft crashing to the ground. The investigation by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), claimed that one pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel, and the second pilot responded that he had not. The report, coupled with claims that Captain Sabharwal had taken bereavement leave and was suffering with depression following his mother's death, has raised questions over whether enough is being done to assess and safeguard pilots' mental health. Air India's CEO has warned that the investigation into what happened is still far from over, telling staff in an internal memo today that it is unwise to jump to any conclusions. The AAIB said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out, but also did not offer any conclusions or apportion blame for the June 12 disaster. While the exact cause of the crash is likely to remain unknown for some time, the aviation world is tragically no stranger to man-made catastrophes. These include those triggered by mental health crises - with experts warning that not enough is being done to support pilots and other aviation professionals. Horrifying video showed the moment the Air India jet crashed into a medical college in Ahmedabad on June 12 If included as a category in worldwide air-crash statistics, pilot murder-suicides would be the second biggest cause of fatalities in Western-built aircraft since 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg found in 2022. The most notorious crash attributed to pilot suicide, the 2015 Germanwings disaster, saw 150 passengers killed when their plane crashed into a French mountain. Investigators revealed in the days after the crash that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had locked the flight's captain out of the cockpit to deliberately set the plane on a collision course with a mountainside. It emerged that Lubitz had suffered from depression in the past, but was later deemed fit to fly. He had searched online for ways to end his life, before researching the security of cockpit doors. As prosecutors dug deeper into what had happened, they found that the pilot had suffered from a 'severe' depressive episode before being hired - something the airline was not informed of. Just weeks before the crash, a psychiatrist diagnosed a psychosomatic disorder and possible psychosis, but Lubitz hid his sick notes. Prosecutors believed he became 'virtually obsessed' with an 'unfounded' fear of losing his vision - a condition that would surely end his career as a pilot. The findings led investigators to conclude that Lubitz had deliberately cast the plane down into the mountains in a deliberate attempt to end his own life. Aviation psychologist Marc Atherton said the incident encouraged him to get involved in the area of pilot mental health, which he felt was being overlooked. 'It was painfully obvious that the global industry had a very good process around safety for physical risks, for operational risks and for technical risks, but what seemed to be missing was a coherent approach to the mental health and performance risk of all of the safety-critical groups in the industry,' he said. Surveys of airline pilots have shown that between four and eight per cent have contemplated suicide, roughly in line with the general population. Airline pilots must undergo periodic medical examinations to keep their licences, with the profession one of very few in which employees must disclose all their health information in order to work. Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a leading aviation safety expert in India, told the Telegraph that he had heard from 'several Air India pilots' that Captain Sabharwal had 'some mental health issues.' But, he emphasised, the pilot 'must have been medically cleared by the company doctors [to fly]. They must have given the clearance certificate.' If pilots develop a mental health condition in between the exams and do not disclose it, they can be stopped from flying. This, experts say, means many conceal their health information or avoid mental health checks out of fear of being put out of work. A 2022 study found that 56.1 per cent of the 3,765 US pilots who participated in the survey reported a 'history of healthcare avoidance behaviour' due to the risk of losing their licence. After the Germanwings crash, a US panel warned that there was 'no convincing evidence' that screening for suicidal tendencies would prevent similar disasters. Another possible way to mitigate the risk of a suicidal pilot taking control of the plane away from their co-pilot was to change door designs, preventing them from being locked. The 2013 crash of a Mozambican airliner in Namibia saw pilot Hermino dos Santos Fernandes himself in the cockpit, preventing his co-pilot from entering as he made a 'deliberate series of manoeuvres' causing the crash, investigators said. But authorities have warned against changing the design of doors, saying sophisticated locks are needed to prevent cockpit invasions and hijackings. Pilot suicide was among the countless theories floated in relation to the disappearance of Flight MH370 in 2014. The Malaysia Airlines jet was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board when it vanished and became one of the greatest mysteries in aviation. No sign of the plane was found in a 46,000-square mile Indian Ocean search zone and the Australian-led search, the largest in history, was suspended in January 2017. In 2020, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott claimed that top Malaysian officials believed the aircraft vanished after veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah intentionally crashed it. 'My very clear understanding from the very top levels of the Malaysian government is that from very, very early on here, they thought it was murder-suicide by the pilot,' he told Sky News. 'I'm not going to say who said what to whom but let me reiterate, I want to be absolutely crystal clear, it was understood at the highest levels that this was almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot - mass murder-suicide by the pilot.' Zaharie's family have long strongly rejected such claims as baseless, while Malaysia's prime minister at the time of the tragedy also said there was 'no conclusive proof'. Captain Dave Fielding, chair of the International Peer Assist Aviation Coalition (IPAAC), has long campaigned for the improved monitoring of mental health among all aviation workers - from pilots to cabin crew and engineers. 'Big picture-wise, pilot mental health and performance is the new front on flight safety, and is where we should be focusing our efforts,' he said in an interview with the British Safety Council last September. The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) last year published a paper on the challenges mental health issues, and the lack of support available for them, continue to pose to the aviation industry globally. Publishing the report, RAeS chief executive David Edwards said: 'Whilst the industry is doing more to support staff who are already facing mental health issues, there remains a lack of psychosocial risk management systems to prevent the development of mental health issues in the first place.' While the report has generated a significant response from around the world, industry experts agree that there is still work to be done to encourage airline pilots and other aviation professionals to come forward with mental health concerns. 'There has been much good work done across the world in this area,' Captain Fielding told MailOnline. 'But it is in its infancy and a lot more needs to be done.' IPAAC, which he chairs, is a not-for-profit which develops peer support programmes to help 'provide a vital method for safety-critical personnel in aviation to seek help for mental health and wellbeing issues.' In a statement to MailOnline, the organisation said: 'The mental health and wellbeing of all safety-critical personnel in aviation is a safety issue. 'The role of Peer Support Programmes is more critical than ever in assisting our colleagues when they need support from a friendly and confidential co-worker, trained to give specific assistance.' For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to
