Small Plane Crashes at London Southend Airport
The local member of parliament, David Burton-Sampson, urged people to stay away and let the emergency services do their work.
London: Emergency services raced Sunday to the scene of a small plane crash at London Southend Airport.
In a statement on social media, the airport confirmed a serious incident involving what it termed a general aviation aircraft.
Essex Police said it had been alerted just before 4 pm local time to theserious incident" at the relatively small airport, which is around 45 miles (72 kilometres) east of the capital.
Images posted on social media show a plume of fire and black smoke emanating from the crash site. The plane involved is said to be 12 metres (39 feet) long.
No details on where the plane was heading or how many people were on board were immediately disclosed.
"We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours," Essex Police said.
As a precaution due to their proximity to the incident, police evacuated a local golf club and rugby club.
The local member of parliament, David Burton-Sampson, urged people to stay away and let the emergency services do their work.
"My thoughts are with everyone involved," he said.
According to the airport's website, four flights scheduled to take off on Sunday afternoon were cancelled.
