The two Dutch pilots killed in the Southend airport plane crash that killed four people have been named.
Captain Danny Marco Franken and First Officer Floris Christiaan Rhee were ‘both highly respected and cherished colleagues’, Zeusch Aviation said.
They were flying a small medical aircraft carrying nurse Maria Fernanda Rojas Ortiz, 31, and Dr Matthias Eyl, 46, when it nosedived on July 13.
Flight SUZ1 was on its way to Lelystad, Netherlands, from Southend after flying to the Essex airport from Pula, Croatia, that morning.
Children waved goodbye to the pilots as families gathered to watch the take-off at around 4pm.
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The flight was airborne for only seconds before it rolled to the left and crashed, bursting into flames, eyewitnesses told Metro.
Sunny Cook, 20, from Southend, said: ‘It was like something in an aeroplane disaster movie. It was very distressing to see, I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.’
Zeusch Aviation said it will not release any information on the medical team on board.
Marco Rietvelt, managing director of Zeusch Aviation: ‘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. We are all deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic loss.’
Maria, from Chile, was known for her ‘charisma, love, humour, and kindness,’ her family said.
”She taught us to be proud of who we are, to dream, and to love with all our souls,’ they added.
The doomed flight was on her first day as a flight nurse for Zeusch Aviation, which specialises in medical evacuation services.
Matthias has been a member of his local German Red Cross chapter, DRK Ortsverein Bad Marienberg, for several years, the group said.
‘He was a man who listened, tackled and encouraged. Exactly when it came down to it. His commitment was not taken for granted, his loss is immeasurable,’ the chapter added.
A police investigation is ongoing.
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