Southend Airport plane crash pilots killed in 'fireball' named

The two pilots killed when their plane smashed into the ground at Southend Airport, Essex, have been named. Captain Danny Marco Franken and First Officer Floris Christiaan Rhee died on Sunday, July 13. Zeusch Aviation said both of them were "highly respected and cherished colleagues". The company's managing director, Marco Rietvelt, said the pair were well liked among their colleagues and had a "passion" for carrying out their missions.

He said: "Danny and Floris were not only highly skilled pilots, but also greatly valued and popular members of our team. Their passion for flying was matched by their dedication to their colleagues and the important missions they carried out." Franken and Rhee were killed when the medical flight, chartered to take a patient for treatment elsewhere in the country, crashed inside the airport boundary.

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