SAD TALE OF SALA TRAGEDY
Report reveals key facts
CARDIFF City have welcomed the publication of the final report into the plane crash that caused the death of their £15m signing Emiliano Sala.
Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson died in the crash in the English Channel, two days after the Argentine had signed for the Bluebirds in January last year.
Sala was travelling from Nantes, in France, to Cardiff when the single-engine Piper Malibu N264DB aircraft in which he was travelling lost contact with air traffic control north of Guernsey.
Ibbotson lost control of the plane while descending to avoid cloud and he was probably also affected by carbon monoxide, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) concluded.
The plane began to break up in mid-air as the pilot tried to regain control, investigators found. His efforts to pull up from its final dive caused the tail fin and then the outer edges of both wings to shear off before it hit the sea near Guernsey at an estimated 270mph (434kph).
The body of the Argentine player was recovered from the wreckage, but Ibbotson’s body has never been found.
The report found that neither the pilot nor aircraft had the required licences or permissions to operate commercially.
In a statement on Friday, Cardiff said: “We welcome the publication of the AAIB report, an important step in understanding the full facts surrounding this tragedy.
“It is a detailed and technical piece of work which, whilst apportioning no blame or liability, raises a number of new questions which we hope will be addressed during the inquest recommencing next week.
“The report focuses on flight conditions, the plane and the pilot, and concludes that a plane that was permitted to be used for private use only, was being used commercially, thus operating outside the safety standards applicable for commercial operations.
“A number of mechanical and technical faults in the plane were also found, the most serious being that carbon monoxide had entered the cabin affecting both the passenger and pilot. Furthermore, the pilot was not qualified to fly the aircraft at the time of the accident, nor did his licence permit him to receive remuneration for flying, yet he was to be paid.
Challenges
“The report also highlights a number of challenges the regulating bodies face in stopping illegal grey charter flights, the widespread use of which in the football industry and more widely is placing countless lives at risk.
“We are encouraged to read that the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) is determined to tackle illegal activities by pursuing those involved. It is a practice which must be stopped and we hope the industry will be supported in order to prevent this tragedy ever happening again.”
Cardiff and FC Nantes remain in dispute over the £15m transfer fee for Sala.
The Bluebirds have refused to pay the fee, claiming the Argentine was not officially their player at the time of his death.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland is expected to rule this summer on whether the Bluebirds should pay Nantes £5.3m - the first tranche of Sala’s transfer fee - as ordered by football’s governing body Fifa in September.