SALA INQUEST REVEALS CAUSE OF DEATH
EMILIANO Sala died from head and chest injuries caused by his plane crashing into the sea, an inquest heard yesterday.
The Cardiff City striker was identified by his fingerprints after his body was recovered from the sea by a specialist team.
The 28-year-old had just signed for Cardiff City from Nantes in a record £15m transfer deal.
David Ibbotson is still missing after the plane, which was flying Argentine footballer Sala from Nantes in France to Cardiff, crashed in the English Channel on January 21.
Acting senior Dorset coroner Brendan Allen heard evidence yesterday that a post-mortem examination carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue had given Sala’s cause of death as “1a) head and trunk injuries”.
The hearing, which lasted five minutes and took place at Bournemouth Town Hall in the absence of members of Sala’s family, was adjourned until November 6.
Senior coroner’s officer Ian Parry confirmed Sala was pronounced dead at Portland port on February 7 and was formally identified by fingerprints.
His full name was given as Emiliano Raul Sala, who was born in October 1990 at Esperanza, Santa Fe, Argentina.
“On Monday January 21 a Malibu aircraft left Nantes airport for Cardiff,” Mr Parry said. “The aircraft was carrying two persons, the pilot David Ibbotson and passenger Emiliano Raul Sala.Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft during the flight and an extensive search commenced off waters at Guernsey.
“Subsequently the plane was located on the sea bed in international waters.
“Following a closer examination of the site a body, later identified as Mr Sala, was found and recovered. To date the pilot, Mr Ibbotson, has not been found. Police, Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the Civil Aviation Authority are continuing with their inquiries.”
Yesterday, in an emotional interview, the wife and daughter of pilot Dave Ibbotson said they will never give up hope of finding him.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, his daughter Danielle said her father would not give up looking for her if she was missing, so she would not give up on him. Holding back tears, she said: “If you’ve got hope then you shouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t stop searching for me.”
She added: “We still hope and pray and hope everyone keeps my dad in their prayers. He was amazing, I was so lucky to have him as a dad.
“I know it might take a long time but I don’t want this to just be it.”
Wife Nora said: “We know that he is dead. We do know that, but we just want him home. He has been a brilliant husband, he has supported us all. He was our supporter. He was our rock. We can’t leave him out there on his own. We are trying to do everything we can. This is why we have done the appeal for some help to guide us.”
Asked about a joke on Facebook he made about “feeling a bit rusty” before the flight, Mrs Ibbotson replied: “That’s just Dave.”
She added she wanted a search team “just to go down and have a last look, a proper look” so that “our family unit can be back, so we can go and visit him, just to know that he’s there”.
Mrs Ibbotson said they
have not been in contact with the family of Sala as they are both grieving, but said “we’ve always thought about them” and she sent her “deepest condolences”.
Speaking of the Sala family, Danielle added: “We have been praying and thinking of them since all of this happened. We still hope and pray, and hope everyone keeps my dad in their prayers.”
A fundraising campaign to restart the search for Mr Ibbotson has already raised more than £150,000 of a £300,000 target.
A message on the wb page reads: “Please help bring David Ibbotson home and help give him the send-off he deserves.”
A donation under the name of broadcaster and former footballer Gary Lineker of £1,000 is registered on the page, which he shared with his 7.2 million Twitter followers on Saturday.
A £27,000 donation under the name Elie Lottin, apparently made by France’s World Cup winning footballer Kylian Sanmi Mbappe Lottin, is also listed.
Sala’s body was recovered in a privately-funded search, which was launched after the initial search was called off three days after the men and their plane went missing.
Although Mr Ibbotson, 59, of Crowle, Lincolnshire, has not been located, poor weather conditions meant a “difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close”, a spokesman for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said.
The aircraft remains underwater off the coast of Guernsey in the English Channel.
Yesterday, Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley was criticised for what was seen as an “insensitive” interview with Ibbotson’s wife and daughter in which he questioned why they wanted to search for the body.
He said: “So let’s be clear, you’re not asking for the wreckage of the aircraft to be brought up, because experts are saying that’s pretty much impossible given the conditions you’ve mentioned.
“But the one body has been brought to the surface, and now clearly there’ll be a funeral, and you want the same privilege if it’s possible, and you’ve been told that that process if successful would cost about £300,000, and I’ve just been told that your find has reached 140 after just a few days, so you’re almost half way there.
“Tell us just why it’s so important to recover the person that’s lost. Psychologically, why’s it so important to you to have him back?”