On Sunday, July 13, 2025, a Beechcraft B200 Super King Air, our go-to medical transport jet, went down. This unusual occurrence happened at London Southend Airport. The plane was outfitted with state-of-the-art medical technology for moving critically ill patients. It had been about to taxi for take-off to the Netherlands when the incident happened.
Witnesses reported that the plane, measuring 12 meters (39 feet) in length, experienced difficulties shortly after it began its take-off roll. John Johnson, a bystander who witnessed the event with his family, described the scene saying, “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.”
The crash and resulting explosion created a massive fireball, shocking those nearby. Indeed, Johnson remembered that no more than 15 minutes before this fatal crash, he had seen these same pilots. He reported, “They all waved back at us. This awful incident occurred so suddenly that emergency responders had to react just as quickly.
Local authorities reacted swiftly to the scene. The 400-person airport’s fire service was first to the scene. They immediately sent two fire engines to help extinguish the flames and respond to the damage caused by the crash. Essex Police, joined by ambulance and fire services, were pivotal in making a vital early response to the incident.
Emergency teams immediately sprang into action on the ground. A large black smoke cloud poured from the crash area, and it was visible from inside the airport building. Onlookers still watched in horror as the scene played out with emergency responders directing traffic and coordinating their approach.
As the Herald points out, the cause of the crash has not yet been determined. Federal and state authority investigations will attempt to determine what caused this tragic crash of the air ambulance.
