Camilla Jessen
A small aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Southend Airport on Sunday afternoon, erupting into flames within sight of horrified onlookers.
A father and daughter outing turned into a nightmare at Southend Airport on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff.
Ben Guppy, 34, had taken his 15-month-old daughter to the rooftop bar and restaurant at a nearby Holiday Inn to watch planes come and go.
But just before 4pm, what should have been an enjoyable afternoon became a terrifying sight.
“It corkscrewed upside down into the floor”
The aircraft, reported to be a medijet carrying medical equipment and headed to the Netherlands, barely left the runway.
Witnesses say it only reached around 175 feet in altitude before sharply veering off course.
Speaking to Express reporters, Guppy described the disturbing scene: “My daughter was pointing at it and then it listed to the left. The left wing came down, the right wing came up. I thought, ‘He’s keen to go left as soon as he takes off.’”
“He’s banking hard left, and then the next thing you know, it’s like another handbrake turn,” Guppy recalled. “He corkscrewed upside down into the floor. The plane was only in the air for seconds.”
What followed was a towering blaze.
“I looked at it and the fireball went up — there was fire and smoke everywhere,” Guppy said. “Luckily my daughter was facing the other way.”
“Everyone was screaming”
Inside the bar, the atmosphere turned from calm to chaos.
“I just looked around like, ‘Am I dreaming?’” Guppy said. “I turned to my wife Jess, who had her hands over her face. She was pretty much in tears. She’s still pretty upset about it all.”
The family from Benfleet, Essex, quickly decided to leave the scene.
“We were about 500 metres away. We just thought, ‘Let’s get our daughter out of there.’” Guppy said the shock hit hard on the drive home. “I had a lump in my throat and goosebumps. Everyone was pulled over at the side of the road watching the smoke.”
Airport closed, investigation underway
An official statement from Southend Airport confirmed that operations were suspended indefinitely following what it called a “serious incident.”
All flights have been cancelled, and passengers were urged to contact their airlines.
Essex Police and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch are leading the inquiry.
Authorities have not yet confirmed how many people were on board the plane at the time of the crash. The model involved is understood to typically carry up to 12 passengers.
