Private Aircraft Explodes Into Fireball At Southend Airport On Takeoff, Flames Engulf Runway | VIDEO

London: Panic swept across London's Southend Airport on Sunday when a private aircraft attempting to depart for the Netherlands erupted into a towering fireball, shaking the ground and sending plumes of thick black smoke spiralling into the Essex sky. The horrific incident occurred just after 4 pm, leaving onlookers stunned and airport authorities racing to respond to what quickly escalated into a full-blown emergency.

According to reports, the terrifying moment occurred reportedly after a Beech B200 Super King Air crashed during take-off. The twin-turboprop plane had been scheduled to fly to Lelystad, a city in the Netherlands, but barely made it off the runway before disaster struck. A massive explosion followed, lighting up the runway in flames. The eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud blast, followed by the horrifying sight of a huge fireball and a column of dark smoke rising rapidly into the sky.

As per reports, the exact number of people on board the aircraft remains unclear at this time, and emergency services have yet to confirm whether there were any casualties. The fire engines, ambulances and police units flooded the scene within minutes, cordoning off the area and launching an immediate rescue and recovery operation. The photos and videos circulating across social media captured the scale of the blaze, a thick plume of smoke billowing from the crash site, visible from miles away, as airport operations came to a grinding halt.

Viral Video Captures Moment Aircraft Exploded Into Fireball At London's Southend Airport | WATCH

David Burton-Sampson, the Member of Parliament for Southend West & Leigh, acknowledged the developing crisis in a public statement issued on X. “I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport,” he posted. “Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work. My thoughts are with everyone involved.”

Further details regarding the plane crash are awaited.