David Ibbotson

Emiliano Sala died in a plane crash in the English Channel near Guernsey on 21 January 2019.

The body of the pilot, David Ibbotson, was not found.

Emiliano Sala had been an Argentinian footballer and had just signed up with Cardiff City Football Club.

His inquest showed he had been overcome by toxic levels of carbon monoxide poisoning prior to his death in the crash but that his cause of death was head and trunk injuries caused by the plane crashing.

He had been on a private plane travelling between Nantes and Cardiff. The plane had been a Piper Malibu aircraft and had left Nantes airport at 7.15pm for Cardiff, but radar contact with it was lost at 8.15pm near Guernsey.

The plane was later found on the seabed on 3 February 2019 and Emiliano Sala's body was found in it three days later but David Ibbotson's body was not there.

The plane itself had been owned by Cool Flourish Ltd and managed by a friend of the company director. David Ibbotson began flying the plane for the manager in June 2018, however, whilst flying the aircraft up to July 2018 he generated two airspace infringements and the company director asked the manager not to use him anymore. However, from August 2018 David Ibbotson continued to fly the aircraft again.

The aircraft had its last annual maintenance inspection carried out on 30 November 2018, which included checks on its exhaust system.

During Emiliano Sala's transfer to Cardiff City he flew to Cardiff for medical tests and afterwards flew back to Nantes on 19 January 2019. However, when they land in Nantes, David Ibbotson reported difficulties with the aircraft, saying the he heard a bang during the flight, describing it as a 'boon'. David Ibbotson reported the matter to the manager who then had a French mechanic inspect the plane. However, he only inspected the brakes and not the exhaust system.

Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson were due to fly back on 21 January 2019 at 9am but their flight was pushed back to 7pm and it left at 7.15pm.

Radio contact was lost with the flight at  8.12pm and radar contact was lost at 8.16pm when it crashed into the sea.

Following the recovery of Emiliano Sala's body and an investigation, the manager of the aircraft was convicted of endangering the safety of an aircraft through his management of it as well as admitting attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation and he was jailed for 18 months.

Emiliano Sala's inquest concluded on 17 March 2022 at Dorset Coroner’s Court in Bournemouth.