Were Sala and his pilot poisoned by gas before crash?
THE pilot of the plane carrying footballer Emiliano Sala may have been poisoned by carbon monoxide, it emerged yesterday.
David Ibbotson’s body has not been recovered from his crashed single-engined Piper Malibu at the bottom of the English Channel.
However, tests on Sala’s body found there had been enough carbon monoxide in his blood to cause a heart attack, seizure or unconsciousness, an interim report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch shows.
In the aircraft’s tiny cabin, it was likely that Mr Ibbotson was also ‘affected to some extent’ by the deadly gas, it found.
The development prompted demands from Sala’s Argentinian family for the wreckage to be salvaged and examined.
Investigators said it would cost too much and be unlikely to provide the answers the family are looking for. The AAIB released the report ahead of a full inquest into Sala’s death to warn pilots of the importance of being aware of carbon monoxide in the cabin.
Piston engine aircraft such as the Piper Malibu produce high levels of the gas, the interim report said. It is normally taken away by the exhaust system, but poor sealing or leaks into the ventilation system will let it in the cabin.
A 20 per cent concentration of carbon monoxide in the blood is enough to cause drowsiness, while 30 to 40 per cent can lead to impaired judgement and blurred vision, it said.
Tests on Sala found a level of 58 per cent – sufficient to lead to seizures, unconsciousness and a heart attack.
The report said: ‘In this type of aircraft, the cockpit is not separated from the cabin and it is considered likely that the pilot would also have been affected to some extent by exposure to CO.’
Sala, 28, signed for Cardiff City from French club Nantes for a club record £15million.
David Henderson, an experienced pilot, had been set to fly the Piper PA-46 Malibu on January 21 – but he pulled out, leaving 59-year-old Mr Ibbotson to fly Sala from Nantes to Cardiff.
The wreckage was found the following month off Guernsey and Sala’s body was retrieved. Initial efforts to salvage the aircraft were hampered by bad weather.
Daniel Machover, of Hickman and Rose solicitors, lawyers for Sala’s relatives, said: ‘The family believe a detailed technical examination of the plane is necessary.’
The AAIB said it had ‘considered the feasibility and merits’ of trying to recover the wreck but had concluded it would ‘not add significantly to the investigation’.
A full report is expected to be published next year.