Officials from Korean Air have joined the investigation into the cause of the Stansted air crash.

The four crew of the firm's 747 cargo plane died when it plummeted into woodland moments after take-off.

Search teams were due back at the crash site today (Christmas Eve) to resume the hunt for clues and the remains of those on board. One body has been found so far.

The investigation is expected to centre on the aircraft's engines, although airport officials last night denied witness reports that at least one engine was on fire moments before the plane hit the ground.

A spokeswoman said: "As far as we are aware, the aircraft had a normal take-off from Stansted and there was definitely no fire in one of the engines at that time."

She added the airport, which was completely closed for 16 hours as a result of the incident, was expected to be operating normally from this morning after the backlog of flights and 2,500 stranded passengers were cleared overnight.

One of the jet's two on-board flight recorders has been retrieved, but officials have warned it could be weeks before the cause is confirmed.

No mayday call was received from the crew but the fact that the plane was pointing towards Stansted when it crashed suggests the pilot may have realised there was a problem and tried to make it back to the airport.

Meanwhile, aerial photographs of the crash scene showed just how close it came to being a far worse tragedy.

Burning debris was scattered over two square miles, with splinters of fuselage strewn across a grassy field just yards from Marstons Farm, on the edge of Hatfield Forest.

The cargo plane, which was carrying explosives among its cargo bound for Italy, crashed just yards from a farmhouse between two villages, close to the busy M11 and the village of Great Hallingbury.

The impact was felt by staff and passengers at the terminal a mile away and the jet erupted in a mushroom cloud of flames and smoke.

999 plan works well

An Essex ambulance officer was one of the first on the scene of the crash.

Brian Percy, of Essex Ambulance Service, said: "Our first information was that the crash involved an Airbus. This had the potential for multiple casualties and we responded accordingly.

"We subsequently learnt that the plane was carrying cargo, and as I approached the scene it was fairly obvious from the devastation that there was little likelihood of any survivors."

Nine ambulances were drafted in from all parts of the county, and neighbouring services from Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and London were put on standby.

Many off-duty staff telephoned offering to work if they were needed, said Essex Ambulance spokeswoman Victoria Spurr.

She said the crews were on the scene near Little and Great Hallingbury within seven minutes of the accident.

Mrs Spurr said the service also responded to nearly 600 other emergency calls on Wednesday, an increase of 25 per cent above the normal daily calls.

She added the emergency plans had worked well and emergency services would be getting together for a debrief on the operation.

Near miss for farm

The crashing plane missed a family home by 100 yards.

Farmer Martin Mugele, 62, of Marston Farm, Little Hallingbury, pondered what could have been if the plane had hit his home of 35 years.

Martin's wife Valerie, his son and daughter-in-law. David and Phillipa, and grandchildren Harry, 3, and Kate, 9 months, were all in the house.

Surveying the wreckage of the cargo plane Mr Mugele said: "Look at it, it was a 150 tonne jet and now it's just little bits and pieces. I don't want to think about what could have happened."

Pedigree cattle breeder Martin had been playing Father Christmas at a children's party in Stansted village and he returned to his home of 35 years to find huge flames and smoke billowing from the field.

Pointing at the burnt trees on the far side of the crash site, Mr Mugele said: "You can see how big the flames were as the tops of the trees are scorched."

He added: "The planes don't come over here ... they normally go over the A120. It's never worried us before but whether it will in the future I don't know."

Airport slowly getting back to normal

A BAA spokeswomen said services at Stansted had returned to normal this morning but at this time of year the airport was expected to get very busy with Christmas travellers.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.