Ibbotson ‘not qualified to fly at night’ concludes investigation
Pilot David Ibbotson was not qualified to fly the aircraft carrying Emiliano Sala which fatally crashed into the English Channel, an official crash investigators’ report has found.
Mr Ibbotson had no training to fly at night and was more likely to lose control of the aircraft because of this.
It’s also emerged his private pilot’s licence did not allow him to receive a fee for flying, yet evidence showed he was to be paid a fee for this flight. No permission had been sought or granted which allowed the aircraft to operate commercially.
Mr Ibbotson was flying the Piper Malibu aircraft in January 2019 when it crashed into the ocean, killing Sala and leaving Mr Ibbotson unaccounted for to this day.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has today released its final report into what actually happened, addressing how the plane crashed and how carbon monoxide was leaked into the cabin.
The investigation concluded that “neither the plane nor the pilot had the required licences or permissions to operate commercially”. It said Mr Ibbotson was asked to fly the plane by a third party and was likely to have felt “under pressure” to take on the return journey at night in difficult weather conditions.
A spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority said criminal charges could follow: “Our thoughts remain with the families, friends and all others affected by this tragic accident.
“The CAA’s Investigation and Enforcement Team is carrying out a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the accident, the purpose of which is to consider whether any aviation offences have been committed. We cannot comment while this investigation is ongoing but will provide an update as soon we are able to do so.”
The crash came after Mr Ibbotson lost control of the aircraft during a manually-flown turn, probably undertaken to remain clear of poor weather. As a result, parts of the plane broke off in-flight “while manoeuvring at an airspeed significantly in excess of its design manoeuvring speed”.
Today’s AAIB report says: “A loss of control was made more likely because the flight was not conducted in accordance with safety standards applicable to commercial operations. This manifested itself in the flight being operated under VFR [visual flight rules] at night in poor weather conditions despite the pilot having no training in night flying and a lack of recent practice in instrument flying”.
As for carbon monoxide leaking into the cabin, investigators say the most likely reason for this was a failure in the exhaust tailpipe containing the heater muff, which allowed exhaust gas to enter the cabin through the cabin conditioning system.
A previous bulletin issued last August revealed Sala had potentially fatal levels of carbon monoxide in his system when he died, adding it was likely Mr Ibbotson would also have been affected.
Four minutes prior to the accident, the pilot was “talking lucidly on the radio explaining that he was going to manoeuvre to avoid poor weather. This suggested that, if he had already been exposed to CO, the symptoms were at the lower end of the scale. The flight path over the following 90 seconds was unstable and included high bank angles and rates of climb and descent inconsistent with normal cruise flight.”
The report summarises that the pilot’s ability to control the aircraft was probably impaired by the effects of CO poisoning but he appeared to have “some level of function at a late stage of the flight”, also noting the pilot’s lack of training in night flying and recent practice in instrument flying is likely to have increased the risk of loss of control.
“It was not possible to quantify the extent to which either factor contributed to events”, the report says, “but it was likely that the loss of control was made significantly more likely by the probability that the pilot was affected by CO poisoning.”
There was no carbon monoxide detector with an active warning in the aircraft which might have alerted the pilot in time for him to take action. There is no current requirement to have such a detector on piston engine aircraft, although regulators advise pilots to do so.
Five safety recommendations have been made in the report concerning the carriage of carbon monoxide detectors; additional in-service inspections of exhaust systems; and the maintenance of flight crew licensing records.
In general terms, should illegal activity be suspected, the Civil Aviation Authority has powers to detain an aircraft and where appropriate, take enforcement action. This includes educating the operator about the regulations, formal warnings, revocation of licences/approvals or certificates, and criminal prosecutions.
A Cardiff City spokesman said the club welcome the publication of today’s report, which they describe as “an important step in understanding the full facts surrounding this tragedy”.
A club statement said: “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. 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 is determined to tackle illegal activities by pursuing those involved, it is a practise which must be stopped and we hope the industry will be supported in order to prevent this tragedy ever happening again.”