A tragic plane crash at London Southend Airport claimed the lives of four foreign nationals, including Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz, a 31-year-old nurse from Chile, on her very first day working as a flight nurse. The crash occurred on Sunday afternoon shortly after the Beech B200 Super King Air medical transport plane took off, with witnesses describing a “fireball” and images later circulating of black smoke billowing from the scene. The aircraft, operated by Zeusch Aviation, had just completed a patient transfer and was returning to its base in the Netherlands when disaster struck.

According to passenger lists, the victims included two Dutch pilots and another as-yet-unidentified individual, in addition to Ortiz. Ortiz, who had obtained German citizenship, had previously worked in the public healthcare sector before transitioning to aviation medicine. Her friends remembered her as the “kindest soul,” highlighting her humility and her profound commitment to caring for others, qualities that led her to choose nursing as her career.

Ortiz’s first day in-flight was meant to mark the beginning of a new chapter in her career but instead ended in tragedy. She had been chosen for the flight nurse role after exemplary work in public healthcare, and reports confirm that she was eager to serve in medical repatriations and patient transfers, which represent critical links between hospitals across Europe. A GoFundMe campaign was established by friends and colleagues to assist her family with repatriation and funeral expenses, reflecting the widespread grief and solidarity among those who knew her.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which has dispatched a multidisciplinary team to determine what led to the accident. Zeusch Aviation expressed its deep sorrow and commitment to supporting those affected, as authorities work to formally identify the victims and provide answers about the sequence of events that led to the fatal incident.