A woman on her first day as a flight nurse was reportedly among four people who died when a small medical plane crashed shortly after take-off from London Southend Airport on Sunday. Maria Fernanda Rojas Ortiz, 31, a German citizen born in Chile, had previously worked as a nurse in the public sector and married her partner last year.
A Dutch pilot and co-pilot and a European male medical professional were also reported to have been killed. Their names have not been officially released. Friends of Ms Rojas Ortiz described her as the “kindest soul” and set up a GoFundMe page to support her family.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Ch Supt Morgan Cronin of Essex Police said: “Shortly after takeoff, [the plane] got into difficulty and crashed within the airport boundary. We can now confirm that all four people onboard died.” He added that all four are believed to be foreign nationals. The Civil Aviation Authority has put in place a significant air exclusion zone around the crash site.
Lisa Fitzsimons, a senior inspector at the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, said the aircraft involved was a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air. “It is too early to speculate on the cause,” she said. “Our investigation is in parallel with Essex police. We will make recommendations to prevent a similar accident.” Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his thoughts were with the families and thanked emergency responders.
The aircraft, operated by Dutch company Zeusch Aviation, was equipped for medical transport. The airline confirmed its flight SUZ1 was involved and is supporting the investigation. The plane had flown from Athens to Pula, Croatia, before arriving at Southend, where it had dropped off a patient. It then took off bound for Lelystad in the Netherlands but crashed at 3.48pm within the airport boundary.
