Sala pilot concerned about ‘dodgy’ aircraft

The pilot of a plane in which footballer Emiliano Sala died described the aircraft as “dodgy” and vowed to wear his lifejacket before the fatal flight.

An inquest in March found the Argentina-born striker died from head and chest injuries but was deeply unconscious, having been poisoned by fumes from the Piper Malibu’s faulty exhaust system, on the evening of Jan 21 2019.

The 28-year-old player was flying from Nantes in France to Wales to join then Premier League club Cardiff City when the plane crashed in the English Channel close to Guernsey, also killing 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson.