Wreckage from a plane carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala has been discovered in the English Channel.The Piper Malibu N264DB was lost on 21 January on its way from Nantes, France to Cardiff, with the Argentine striker and pilot David Ibbotson on board. David Mearns, who …read more via Modern Ghana News – http://bit.ly/2Gsbo4P Get More Nigeria Sports News </s> Emiliano Sala’s plane went missing on January 21 on a flight from Nantes LOIC VENANCE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A body recovered from the wreck of an aircraft on the bed of the Channel was identified last night as that of the Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala.

Dorset police said that a coroner had confirmed that remains brought to the surface on Wednesday night and taken to Portland were those of the 28-year-old striker, who vanished during a flight to Cardiff from Nantes, western France, on January 21. His family has been informed.

Liaison officers were also supporting the family of David Ibbotson, 59, the pilot of the Piper Malibu and the only other person on board, the force said.

Sala had signed for Cardiff City for a club record £15 million four days before he went missing.

The official search for the aircraft was… </s> The wreckage from a plane carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala has been discovered in the English Channel.

The Piper Malibu N264DB was lost on 21 January on its way from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, with the Argentine striker and pilot David Ibbotson on board.

David Mearns, who led a privately-funded search for the aircraft, said it was located off Guernsey on Sunday.

He said: “All I will say is that there is a substantial amount of wreckage on the seabed.”

“We located the wreckage of the plane on the seabed at a depth of about 63m within the first couple of hours (of searching),” he said on BBC’s Radio5.

He said the plane was identified by sonar, before a submersible with cameras was sent underwater and was able to confirm it was the plane.

“They saw the registration number and the biggest surprise is that most of the plane is there,” he added.

Mr Mearns’s private search has now been stopped and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is at the site working to recover the plane.

He said further investigations by the AAIB would be conducted over the next two days in order to determine how it will attempt a recovery operation.

Speaking to Argentinian broadcaster Cronica TV, Sala’s father Horacio said: “I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate.”

Cardiff had signed Sala for a club record of £15m and he was due to start training last month.

The 28-year-old striker and Mr Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, North Lincolnshire, were travelling from Nantes, where he had previously played, when the flight lost contact with air traffic controllers. </s> Private investigators said late on Sunday that they had found the wreckage of a plane that went down over the English Channel on January 21. The aircraft had been carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson.

"I can confirm it has been found," a spokesperson for Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch said.

The Piper PA-46 Malibu airplane had been en route to Cardiff in Wales from Nantes, France. It disappeared around 8:30 pm local time, about 13 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of the island of Alderney.

The plane was built in 1984 and had last received a certificate of airworthiness in 2015. Investigators have said there are some questions about Ibbotson's pilot's license, which may not have permitted him to carry passengers for profit.

An official search for the plane began shortly after the plane's disappearance. It was suspended on January 24, after the Channel Islands Air Search said there was "no hope" of finding survivors. A private search organized by Sala's family and paid for by crowdfunding was launched two days later.

On Wednesday, debris from the plane washed ashore on the Normandy coastline.

Sala, 28, was born in Cululu, Argentina. He had spent his professional career in France, before being signed by Welsh club Cardiff City. He had been leaving Nantes to start his tenure in Wales when he boarded the flight. </s> A body is visible in seabed video footage of the wreckage of the plane which crashed in the English Channel with Cardiff footballer Emiliano Sala on board.

A body is visible in seabed video footage of the wreckage of the plane which crashed in the English Channel with Cardiff footballer Emiliano Sala on board.

Body visible in seabed footage of wreckage of Emiliano Sala’s plane

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the footage was filmed using an underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) which was surveying the area after the plane was located on Sunday.

Analysis of the footage by AAIB investigators confirmed the wreckage was of the missing Piper Malibu aircraft, which disappeared in poor weather near Guernsey on January 21.

The AAIB said in a statement: “The ROV carried out a further search of the area overnight, but did not identify any additional pieces of wreckage.

“Tragically, in video footage from the ROV, one occupant is visible amidst the wreckage.”

The image shows the rear left side of the fuselage, including part of the aircraft registration, N264DB.

A decision has yet to be taken on whether to raise the wreckage to the surface.

The statement added: “The AAIB is now considering the next steps, in consultation with the families of the pilot and passenger, and the police.”

Emiliano Sala’s father has spoken of his anguish and disbelief after the wreckage was discovered.

Speaking at his home in Argentina, Horacio Sala said he was “desperate” after a privately-funded search operation found the aircraft in waters north of Guernsey on Sunday.

“I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate,” Mr Sala told local broadcaster Cronica TV.

The Piper Malibu carrying 28-year-old Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, disappeared over the English Channel after leaving Nantes in France for Cardiff.

Two vessels, including one commissioned by the AAIB, had been taking part in a fresh search covering an area of around four square nautical miles on Sunday when the wreckage was located.

Marine scientist David Mearns, the director of Blue Water Recoveries, led a team on the search vessel FPV Morven while the AAIB also sent a team aboard the Geo Ocean III, a specialist vessel commissioned for the task.

The privately-funded operation on behalf of the Sala family was made possible after a campaign raised more than £260,000 to pay for it.

The plane had requested to descend before it lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.

An official search operation was called off on January 24 after Guernsey’s harbour master Captain David Barker said the chances of survival following such a long period were “extremely remote”.

Two seat cushions, which are likely to have come from the plane, were found last week on the French coast.

Cardiff had signed the footballer for a club record £15million and he was due to start training last month. </s> A body has been seen in the wreckage of the missing plane carrying footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson, it has been confirmed.

Search teams who discovered the wreck of the Piper PA-46 Malibu said footage from underwater cameras had confirmed one body was visible.

The plane which disappeared with Cardiff City footballer Sala and pilot Mr Ibbotson, was found in the English Channel yesterday morning during a private search, with confirmation from search director David Mearns coming last night.

And at just before noon today, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said underwater video footage shows one occupant visible in the wreckage.

The aircraft disappeared on Monday, January 21 on a flight from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff after Sala, 28, completed a club record signing for £15m

Mr Ibbotson , 60, a private pilot who ran a plumbing and gas engineering business near Crowle in Northern Lincolnshire, had been at the controls.

The aircraft disappeared from radar at a height of 2,300ft while flying near the Channel Island of Alderney.

A huge air and sea search in the days after the plane went missing discovered no wreckage or sign of a crash.

And under pressure from Sala’s family and the public a further search was authorised including an underwater search by a specialist ship, the Geo Ocean III and the FPV Morven, which was funded by the Sala family.

Updates will appear below. </s> The pilot of the plane that crashed with the footballer Emiliano Sala on board probably had some control of the aircraft when it came down in the English Channel, an expert said yesterday.

The position on the seabed of the Piper PA-46 Malibu indicated that it was “not a high-speed dive” into the water, suggesting some form of controlled descent. It is believed that the aircraft may have been downed by a build-up of ice on the wings, causing it to lose lift shortly after it passed the Channel Islands.

The comments were made after police confirmed late on Thursday that a body retrieved from the wreckage was that of the footballer. An inquest is to be held in Bournemouth. </s> A body recovered from underwater wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala has been formally identified as the footballer, police said.

Sala (28) was identified by the Dorset coroner on Thursday after his body was pulled from the plane, which had been flown by pilot David Ibbotson, the previous day.

The families of both men have been informed, police said.

The force said in a statement: “The body brought to Portland Port today, Thursday, February 7th, 2019, has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala.

“The families of Mr Sala and the pilot David Ibbotson have been updated with this news and will continue to be supported by specially-trained family liaison officers.

“Our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.

“HM Coroner will continue to investigate the circumstances of this death supported by Dorset Police.”

Cardiff City Football Club said in a statement: “We offer our most heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of Emiliano.

“He and David will forever remain in our thoughts.”

The Piper Malibu N264DB plane lost contact with air traffic control over the Channel, north of Guernsey, on January 21st.

An initial search and rescue operation failed to locate the plane but it was later discovered by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) and privately funded search teams.

The aircraft remains 67 metres underwater around 33km off the coast of Guernsey in the English Channel as poor weather conditions stopped efforts to recover it.

The AAIB has said it expects to publish an interim report within the month.

Cardiff had signed Sala for a club record €17 million and he was due to start training last month.

Nantes has demanded payment from Cardiff for the player’s transfer. – PA </s> Rescue workers have resumed their search for the plane carrying Cardiff City’s new signing Emiliano Sala that went missing over the English Channel, Guernsey Police said.

Two planes took off on Wednesday morning to search a “targeted area” where there is the “highest likelihood” of finding anything based on a review of tides and the weather.

Coastal areas around Alderney and off-lying rocks and islands will also be searched from the air, police said.

The search resumes after a WhatsApp voice message emerged that Sala sent to friends while on the plane bound for Cardiff.

In the recording the footballer says he is “getting scared” and “aboard a plane that seems like it is falling to pieces”.

The search for the missing plane was suspended at sunset on Tuesday with rescue teams finding “no signs” of the plane.

The single-turbine engine Piper PA-46 Malibu, carrying the footballer and his pilot, has been missing since it disappeared off radar on Monday night.

It left Nantes at 7.15pm for Cardiff, and after requesting to descend, lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.

Five aircraft and two lifeboats have searched more than 1,000 square miles of sea but found “no trace” of the plane.

Guernsey Police said the chances of survival were “slim”.

Sala was signed by Premier League strugglers Cardiff for a club record £15 million to bolster their attack and was due to start training on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old posted a picture with his former Nantes team-mates on Monday captioned “the last goodbye” before flying to Wales.

Sala’s father Horacio told Argentinian news channel C5N he felt “desperate” since learning his son’s plane was missing.

Cardiff’s chief executive Ken Choo said the club were “shocked” and “distressed” by news.

Nantes’ next Coupe de France match was postponed and fans gathered in the city’s Place Royale on Tuesday night to sing songs and lay tributes.
The wreckage of the Piper PA-46 Malibu light aircraft, which went missing on January 21, 2019, with two people on board, including Cardiff City F.C. record signing Emiliano Sala, is discovered on the seabed of the English Channel.