Body pulled from Sala plane wreck

A BODY seen in the wreckage of the plane carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson has been recovered, investigators said.

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) were used in “challenging conditions” to pull the body out of the water “in as dignified a way as possible”, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said last night.

The body is being taken to Portland to be passed over to the Dorset coroner for examination, the AAIB added.

The aircraft remains 67 metres underwater 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey in the English Channel as poor weather conditions stopped efforts to recover it.

An AAIB spokesman said: “Unfortunately, attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful before poor weather conditions forced us to return the ROV to the ship.

“In challenging conditions, the AAIB and its specialist contractors successfully recovered the body previously seen amidst the wreckage.

“The operation was carried out in as dignified a way as possible.”

The remains of the plane were discovered on Sunday evening. It had disappeared on January 21 as it travelled from Nantes to Cardiff.

The plane had made a request to descend before it lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.

Cardiff had signed Sala for a club record £15 million and he was due to start training last month.

It has emerged that Nantes has demanded payment from Cardiff for the player’s transfer.

It is understood Cardiff received a letter from Nantes on Tuesday, in which the French Ligue 1 club threatened to take legal action if the first scheduled payment of the fee is not made within 10 days.

It is believed Cardiff have been left surprised by the demand, considering the circumstances and the timing.

Cardiff signing Emiliano Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson who were travelling from France when the plane vanished.