A “SERIOUS incident” at Southend Airport saw a cargo plane come off the taxiway before crashing to a halt.

The incident involving the Boeing 737 saw parts of the taxiway damaged “beyond repair”, a report filed this month has said.

Firefighters were among the emergency response which rushed to the plane after the crash, but thankfully no injuries were reported.

The night-time cargo flight, which had travelled form the German city of Leipzig was being piloted by a 63-year-old veteran with 9,800 hours of flying experience.

The flight and landing went smoothly, according to the report, but while turning between two narrow taxiways, the aircraft's right main landing gear left the paved surface, causing damage to taxiway infrastructure.

In the subsequent investigation, the pilot reported he did not adopt the procedure for taxiing on narrow taxiways as believed he was following the yellow taxi line.

The co-pilot commented on the aircraft’s proximity to the grass at which point the pilot believed the plane had already left the taxiway.

The pilot stated that the aircraft was still moving slowly and his natural reaction was to increase power in order to return to the taxiway Simultaneously, air traffic control asked whether assistance was required but received the response “I think we can power out”.

The pilot increased the power but, by the time the engines had increased in thrust, the aircraft had lost momentum and come to a stop.

The cargo was eventually unloaded after emergency services had checked the scene.

The plane was then towed to a hangar, and following a maintenance inspection where no serious damage was found, the aircraft was released to service two days later.

The taxiway was however damaged, with the edge lights damaged beyond repair.

The report into the incident, which happened on June 18, 2021, stated: “It is probable that the departure of the right main gear from the paved taxiway was due to the crew’s incorrect belief they were turning onto a wider taxiway.

“A combination of unfamiliarity with the routing, inaccurate charting, visual illusions, and a misleading company briefing sheet are likely to have been contributory factors.”

Southend Airport declined to comment.