Seven confirmed dead after Shoreham plane crash

“Emergency services have declared a major incident and a number of helicopters have been deployed to the scene to evacuate casualties to hospital”, said Sussex Police.

He said he thought the pilot was trying to get the plane back to the runway.

The plane crashed on what police described as “a busy main road” adjacent to the airport.

At around 1:20 pm (5:40 pm IST), the crash happened.

“The emergency services are responding”, said Shoreham Airshow on its Twitter account.

Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron sent his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of those who died in the crash.

An airshow ended in catastrophe on Saturday when a plane crashed into a major road in West Sussex.

Witness Stephen Jones told the BBC that the plane was doing a loop but failed to complete the manoeuvre and crashed.

Horrific photos appear to show a huge ball of flames at the point of impact. A further 14 walking wounded are accounted for, alongside another patient suffering life-threatening injuries.

Burning debris was also visible high in the air.

Dom Lawson, a driver on the A27, said that the plane passed just a few meters above his auto with a deafening roar before hitting the ground and bursting into a fireball just five or six vehicles ahead.

The Hawker crashed near a former pub, the Sussex Pad, close to Lancing College, which the £10,000-a-term (NZ$23,475) boarding school has converted into dormitories for its pupils.

“I saw the plane going down”, he added. There’s still a plume of smoke, fire crews and a auto covered in foam.

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau was at the site. “We would like to apologise for the inconvenience this may cause, but we hope the public will understand our decision”.

Amateur footage of the accident quickly circulated on the Internet that shows the fighter jet attempting the loop in clear blue skies.

Later in the day a scheduled fly-past by the last flying Vulcan bomber at the Shoreham Airshow was delayed so the aircraft could offer a “quiet flypast salute along the display line” for those affected by the disaster.