New Delhi: In chilling new detail emerging from the London plane crash, witnesses reported their interactions with the pilots of the ill-fated flight. Witnesses said that families which were in the vicinity of the airport and had come to see planes up-close were waving to the pilots. The pilots also waved reportedly back and smiled at the families, shortly before taking off .
“You could see (the pilots) smiling and we all kind of smiled back, the aircraft then turned 180 degrees to face its take off point, powered up its engines and powered past us, carrying down the runway”, eye-witness John Johnson recounted the details of the crash while talking to the BBC.
The report also mentioned that shortly after take off, the plane banked heavily to its left and then almost inverted and hit the ground, erupting into what people on the spot called a “fireball”. Many people ran towards the site to look for survivors while calling 999, the official emergency number for the United Kingdom.
The Netherlands-bound aircraft had flown from Athens, the capital of Greece, to Pula in Croatia and then to Southend that day itself. It was scheduled to return to Lelystad Airport, where the company is based out, but crashed just before 4 pm according to Essex Police.
As per media reports, the plane was a 12-metre Beechcraft B200 Super King Air specially fitted with medical systems and was used to transport patients. It was operated by Zeusch Aviation which admitted that its SUZ1 flight met with an accident. The company added that they were co-operating with the investigative authorities and that their “thoughts are with everyone who has been affected”.
Authorities said that further flights on Sunday afternoon were cancelled as emergency operations were underway. No information regarding passengers or crew has been shared. Co-ordinated rescue efforts involving multiple ambulances, fire teams, police and hazard area response teams along with off-road vehicles were seen on the location.
Clubs and community centres around the place were initially told to be ready for evacuation but only some, like the Rochford Hundred Golf Club, were told to move forward with the order. James Philpott, a bartender at the golf club said, “I was just in a hut when I felt this big heat wave rush through. I looked up and saw a massive fireball about 100 feet in the sky. It felt like I was baking.”
Essex Police is now working closely with the Air Accident Investigation Branch to ascertain the cause of the crash, while general public has been told to avoid the scene of the crash.
(Curated by Lakshya Jha)