FAMILY APPEAL FOR SALA PILOT SEARCH
EMILIANO Sala’s pilot had some control of the plane when it crashed into the water, according to an aviation expert. Cardiff City striker Sala was killed when the single-engined Piper 46 Malibu plane came down in the English Channel near Guernsey.
The 28-year-old’s body was removed from the plane on Wednesday night and formally identified.
Pilot David Ibbotson’s body has not yet been recovered.
It is believed the plane came down due to bad weather as it flew from Nantes in France to Cardiff on January 21.
Now former RAF instructor David Learmount, consulting editor at aviation news website Flight Global, suggested Mr Ibbotson, 60, had some control over the plane when it came down.
He told The Times the wreckage was not spread out over a wide area, as normally happens after a highspeed, uncontrolled dive.
Mr Learmount said this suggests the pilot had “not absolutely, completely lost control”.
He added: “Nobody dives an aircraft into the sea knowing they are diving the aircraft into the sea. You pull the nose up.
“It didn’t enter the sea speed with its nose down.”
He added: “On light planes, the ability to withstand icing is limited. We do know that not long before the aircraft went missing the pilot requested descent.”
One explanation for this would be to avoid going into cloud, or ice on the wings, Mr Learmount said.
The expert shipwreck hunter who found Sala’s body told The Mirror he would also help find Mr Ibbotson’s body if his family requested it.
It came as the daughter of Mr Ibbotson set up a crowdfunding page at high in a bid to restart the search for her missing father.
As of 6pm yesterday, the family had raised more than £56,000 within hours of launching an appeal for help to fund a new search.
The GoFundMe page was set up on Friday night, pleading for help from the public after all official searches were ended.
Sala’s body was recovered from the wreckage and identified late on Thursday night. But the pilot remains unaccounted for nearly three weeks after the disappearance.
More than 4,200 people had already donated money as of yesterday. The stated goal on the page was to raise £300,000. It follows a similar appeal by the Sala family after the initial search was called off in January, three days after the plane crashed.
More than £260,000 was raised, which helped fund the private search team that located the wreckage in which Sala was found. Sala’s family have urged the authorities to do all they can to find Mr Ibbotson in a statement.
Any new search operation to find Mr Ibbotson would be difficult as the Air Accident Investigation Branch found no trace of the pilot when surveying the wreckage.
The page, set up by Danielle Ibbotson, who is reportedly the pilot’s daughter, says: “Please help bring David Ibbotson home and help give him the send-off he deserves.
“As a family we are relying on the kindness of the good-hearted people to help us raise the much-needed funds to help us find our beloved dad, husband and son.
“As a family we are trying to come to terms with the tragedy and the loss of two incredible men. To be told the search has now been called off for the foreseeable future has only made this tragic time more difficult.
“We cannot bear the thought of him being alone, we need him home so that we are able to lay him to rest.
“Any donations would be very much appreciated. Thank you so much for your support.”
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed that the search had been brought to an end, with the operation to raise the wreckage aborted due to bad weather.
Cardiff City’s Malaysian owner Vincent Tan has also offered to pay for the repatriation of Sala’s body to Argentina.
“May Emiliano’s soul rest in peace. I’m personally very sad over this incident,” Tan toldTalksport.
“This fine young man would have been very happy and successful at Cardiff City where he would have made a new home and many friends.
“Cardiff City will continue to work with the AAIB and investigators to find out how the crash happened and to assist Emiliano’s family.
“We have offered to them to arrange to take Emiliano back to rest with his family in Argentina.
“Even though he will be there, his soul will always be in our hearts.
“We feel a tremendous loss, but the biggest loss is borne by Sala’s family.”