London Southend Airport remains closed until further notice following a devastating plane crash that took place on Sunday, its chief executive Jude Winstanley said during a press conference.

It was shortly before 16:00 BST when the Essex Police was alerted to a 12-metre plane on fire at the site in the north of Southend-on-Sea, with the Dutch company Zeusch Aviation confirmed their SUZ1 flight being “involved in an accident.”

“We can confirm that Zeusch Aviation flight SUZ1 was involved in an accident today at London Southend Airport,” their statement read.  “We are actively supporting the authorities with the investigation and will provide updates on this page as more information becomes available.  Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected.”

According to reports, the plane departed Athens, the capital of Greece, and flew to Pula, Croatia, then to Southend. It was intended to return to Lelystad that evening.

John Johnson from Billericay, Essex, witnessed the plane crashing “head first into the ground” and turning into a “huge fireball.”

“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 on down the runway,” he told the BBC.

“It took off in probably three or four seconds. It started to bank heavily to its left.

“I said to my wife, ‘That’s unusual.’ We don’t find aircraft normally turning at that stage in their ascent.

“Within a few seconds of that, the aircraft almost inverted and hit the ground. There was a huge fireball.”

Fire crews from Southend, Rayleigh Weir and Basildon, along with off road vehicles from Billericay and Chelmsford arrived at the scene in no time.

A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service said : “Four ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, four Hazardous Area Response Team vehicles, three senior paramedic cars and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance were sent to Southend Airport responding to reports of an incident involving an airplane.”

Unfortunately, all four of the people who were on board lost their lives. Chief Superintendent Morgan Cronin said they believe the deceased were foreign nationals. Their identities haven’t been revealed yet.

The investigation regarding the reasons that led to the plane crashing is ongoing.

This is the Beech B200 Super King Air that crashed at Southend Airport

Flight tracking information shows the plane was a Beech B200 Super King Air.

BBC correspondent Tom Symonds said: “This sort of aircraft is a bit like a Land Rover of the skies.

“It’s a bit like an all-purpose vehicle and we can see that it has been rented out for roles including medical evacuation, moving transplant material, aerial mapping, that sort of thing.”

He said the “profile of this crash”, with witnesses describing the plane veering to the left, suggested “loss of power in the left engine”.

The records of this type of aircraft showed “similar crashes over the last 10 years or so”.

“One in particular, in Australia, there was a warning after that crash that the throttle levers – that control the power to the two engines – could slip back, reducing the power,” he said.

“One former aviation accident investigator that I’ve spoken to said that is an area that might be investigated – but these planes can fly with one engine.”