The Argentinian soccer star was flying from Nantes, France to Cardiff, Wales in a Piper Malibu plane piloted by David Ibbotson when it went missing over the English Channel in January.
- Mar 14, 2020
AceShowbiz - The plane crash that killed soccer star Emiliano Sala was caused by a carbon monoxide leak inside, which resulted in the pilot losing control, a new report has found.
The 28-year-old Argentinian sportsman was flying from Nantes, France to Cardiff, Wales in a Piper Malibu plane piloted by David Ibbotson when it went missing over the English Channel on January 21.
According to British newspaper The Sun, an Air Accidents Investigations Branch report found the pilot, David Ibbotson, was not adequately trained in night flying or flying in poor visibility, resulting in the death of the sportsman hours after he signed a $19 million (£15 million) deal to join English Premier League club Cardiff City from French club Nantes.
He was flying privately to the Welsh capital from France but the original pilot David Henderson, 64, arranged for Ibbotson to take the flight instead, with evidence suggesting he felt "under pressure" to complete the journey because he was being paid.
The report concluded: "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."
"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 continued. "It was not possible to quantify the extent to which either factor contributed to events but it was likely that the loss of control was made significantly more likely by the probability was affected by CO poisoning."
Sala's body was discovered in the wreckage three days after the incident, but Ibbotson has never been found.
