'Big Fireball': Small Plane Crashes After Takeoff At London Southend Airport

A small plane crashed moments after takeoff at Lond's Southend Airport. There was no update on the casualties by the time the preliminary reports emerged.

The passenger aircraft, reported to be Beechcraft King Air B200, was leaving the airport for Leystad in the Netherlands, reports said, citing officials.

"We were alerted shortly before 4 pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane," Essex Police said in a statement. Local parliamentary David Burton-Sampson said the emergency workers have launched the rescue operations. “My thoughts are with everyone involved," he posted on social media.

The aircraft involved in the accident is said to be 12 meters (39 feet) long. John Johnson, an eye-witness of the crash, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press that he was a "big fireball" before the plane “crashed head first into the ground.”

“It took off, and about three or four seconds after taking off, 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," he was quoted as saying by the news agency.

On social media, internet users shared visuals which showed a huge pile of smoke emanating from the site of accident.

Following the plane crash, four flights that were scheduled to take off from the airport were cancelled.