– Wreckage Of Missing Plane Carrying footballer Emiliano Sala, has been found two weeks after it disappeared
– Image of the wreckage was released by the Air Accident Investigation Branch today
– Operation to recover the doomed plane was cancelled today and could be hampered by days of poor weather
– The wreckage was found by sea search vessel paid for by Sala’s family
– A yet to be identified body was also found with the wreckage
– An online petition was started which raised more than £300,000 for the search
– More than 3,500 people responded to the appeal for funds including a £26,000 donation from French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe
Two weeks after the search began for the ill fated aircraft carrying Cardiff City forward Emiliano Sala was found in the English Channel on Sunday morning, it has emerged.
The haunting image of the wreckage was released by the Air Accident Investigation Branch today whose team also revealed that the body of either Sala or his pilot David Ibbotson is on board.
The operation to recover the doomed plane was cancelled today and could be hampered by days of poor weather.
It was found by a sea search vessel paid for by Sala’s family yesterday and a small submarine [ROV] with an HD camera confirmed it was the Piper Malibu that disappeared over the Channel Islands two weeks ago.
A body is also lying either in a seat or under the debris but he has not yet been identified.
An AAIB spokesman said:
‘Tragically, in video footage from the ROV, one occupant is visible amidst the wreckage. The AAIB is now considering the next steps, in consultation with the families of the pilot and passenger, and the police’.
The families of the £15million striker and his pilot David Ibbotson are waiting to hear whose body is in the fuselage of the Piper Malibu that vanished in a storm two weeks ago.
Sala’s bereft father Horacio, who has not joined his ex-wife, son and daughter in Britain, told reporters in the Argentinian town of Progreso:
‘I cannot believe it …. this is a dream … a bad dream … I’m desperate’.
The coastguard abandoned their search last week after ruling out any survivors of the air crash with the footballer’s family brought in a celebrated shipwreck hunter to lead the search.
The sea search vessel FPV Morven picked up the wreckage using sonar yesterday morning and an unmanned Air Accident Investigation Branch submarine sent to the sea bed used an HD camera to identify the blue and white aircraft.
Shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who informed the families of Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson last night, said it was a ‘possibility’ that their bodies would be found among the plane wreckage in the English Channel.
Mr Mearns said ‘most’ of the plane was there, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We were expecting to find a debris field, it is broken, but most of it is there.’
Asked whether the bodies were likely to still be on board, he said:
‘That’s a possibility, and they will be planning for that as well so there’s a number of things the AAIB have to consider but their main role obviously is to conduct their investigation of what caused this crash.’
The specialist search for the missing plane began off the coast of Guernsey yesterday morning and located the wreckage on the seabed just hours later.
Sala and pilot Ibbotson left Nantes in France for Cardiff on January 21 – after the star signed for the Welsh Premier League team, disappearing over the Channel.
The official search was called off after four days but Sala’s friends, family and fans clubbed together to pay for a private search to continue with renowned shipwreck hunter Mr Mearns.
On Sunday morning, their efforts paid off.
Geo Ocean III left Ostend in Belgium at 9am and began combing the area. Within hours it was search vessel FPV Morven which picked up a sonar signal from the depths.
The wreckage of the Piper Malibu was formally identified by officials from the Air Accident Investigation Board.
The AAIB’s vessel deployed a remote-controlled submarine to examine the plane and tonight confirmed it was the craft carrying the striker.
Families of both men have been informed of the discovery.
The official search after the plane’s disappearance was called off after three days as officials didn’t believe there was much chance of anyone having survived.
An online petition was then started which raised more than £300,000 to put on a privately-funded search using a specialist survey vessel.
More than 3,500 people had responded to the appeal for funds and the target was broken with the help of a £26,000 donation from French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe.
The boat, operated by global marine cable installation firm A-2-Sea, is equipped with the latest technology.
It includes a multi-beam echosounder and side-scan sonar, which can detect anomalies on the seabed.
David Mearns, who claims to have found 24 major shipwrecks, led the group during the search.
