Emiliano Sala: Private investigators confirm they have ‘found aircraft wreckage’ on English Channel seabed

Sophie Williams4 February 2019

Private investigators have located the wreckage of the aircraft which disappeared over the English Channel carrying footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson.

Investigators told Sky News that a search boat located the wreckage on the seabed on Sunday morning.

In a statement on Twitter, marine scientist David Mearns who ran the private search said: "Wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and piloted by David Ibbotson was located early this morning by the FPV MORVEN.

"As agreed with the AAIB they moved the GEO OCEAN III over the position we provided them to visually identify the plane by ROV.

Emiliano Sala - In pictures

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"The families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson have been notified by Police. The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow.

The pilot has been named as Brit David Ibbotson
Facebook

"Tonight our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David."

Blue Water Recoveries director David Mearns confirmed that the wreckage had been found 
PA

The £15m Cardiff City striker was making his way back to Cardiff from Nantes when the light aircraft he was in disappeared on January 21.

He had been in Nantes to say goodbye to his teammates before his move to Cardiff City.

He posted a picture on Instagram before leaving, showing a picture of him and his old Nantes teammates.

It was accompanied by the poignant message: "La ultima ciao"- the last goodbye, and a love heart.

The Piper PA-46 Malibu plane was being flown by pilot David Ibbotson.

Mr Ibbotson, 59, of Crowle, Lincolnshire, held a private pilot's licence and passed a medical exam as recently as November, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

It requested permission to descend before losing contact with Jersey air traffic control.

According to a source connected to the player in Brittany, the pilot had "struggled to get the plane airborne three or four times" at Nantes-Atlantique airport.

The Sala family has frequently called for official searches to continue and funds have been raised for a private search which has been under way.

The private search for the plane was funded by a GoFundMe campaign, which raised over £320,000.

Cushions from what is believed to be the Piper PA-46-310P Malibu washed up in France on Monday.

Parts of the seats washed up on a beach at Surainville on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, around 60km from Guernsey.

A spokesman for the family said previously: “The family still have some hope, they're looking at this as a missing person, a missing plane, and until they are satisfied, that's the mode that we're in.”

There have been frequent tributes to the footballer at games in the UK and France, with moments of silence and applause held at games in his honour.

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