2019 English Channel Piper PA-46 crash

The aircraft departed from Nantes Atlantique Airport at 19:15 GMT (20:15 CET) bound for Cardiff Airport. Sala had been signed two days previously by Cardiff City Football Club from FC Nantes. The pilot was identified by Guernsey Police as David Ibbotson. Shortly before contact with air traffic control in Jersey was lost, a request was made by the pilot to descend from , in order to maintain visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Radar contact was lost when the aircraft was at an altitude of . The plane was then around northwest of Alderney, Channel Islands, near Casquets lighthouse. The flight was arranged by football agent Willie McKay, who said that he was not involved in selecting the plane or the pilot. David Henderson had originally intended to fly the plane himself, but the flight was given to David Ibbotson. ==Aircraft==

The aircraft involved was a Piper PA-46 Malibu, a six-seat type equipped with a single piston engine, registered in the United States as N264DB, serial number 46-8408037. The aircraft was manufactured in 1984. The Certificate of Registration had been issued on 11 September 2015. The aircraft's last annual inspection had been conducted 11 flying hours before the accident. The aircraft did not carry and was not required to carry a carbon monoxide detector. In a WhatsApp audio message sent just before takeoff on the return flight, Sala said "I am now on board a plane that seems like it is falling to pieces... If you do not have any more news in an hour and a half, I don't know if they need to send someone to find me. I am getting scared!" N264DB was registered to a trustee, the Southern Aircraft Consultancy in Bungay, Suffolk, United Kingdom. Henderson managed operations of the aircraft on their behalf. Six months earlier, the owners had told Henderson not to let Ibbotson fly it because he committed airspace violations when he flew it previously. ==Search==

A search and rescue operation was launched, but was suspended at 02:00 GMT on 22 January due to worsening weather conditions. Although the area was outside the United Kingdom's area of responsibility, Her Majesty's Coastguard sent two helicopters to assist in the search for the aircraft. The search resumed at 08:00 GMT on 22 January. A French Navy vessel also participated in the search. The search was again suspended in the evening of 22 January. Floating objects were found. As of 11:30 GMT, a helicopter and three aircraft were continuing the search and trying to review satellite imagery and mobile phone data; there was still no trace of the missing aircraft. On 23 January, the Channel Islands Air Search said they had abandoned hope of finding any survivors in the water. The search then focused on the possibility that survivors were on a life raft in the English Channel. The official search was called off on 24 January because the chances of survival were said to be "extremely remote". The search had covered of land and sea, covering Burhou, Les Casquets, Alderney, the north coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and the north coast of Jersey and Sark. ==Salvage activity==

Sala's family launched a fundraising appeal to find his body and a private search was launched on 26 January, funded by £259,000 raised in donations, via website GoFundMe. On 28 January, marine scientist David Mearns, who led the search, announced that a search vessel with an unmanned remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) was expected to be in place "by the end of the week". They planned to focus on some of the seabed; the last known position of the aircraft was north of Hurd's Deep. In the meantime, two fishing boats were being used to carry out a surface search of the area. Mearns engaged the FPV Morven for the search. On 30 January 2019 the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) reported that two seat cushions, found on a beach near Surtainville in France, were likely to be from the missing aircraft. AAIB identified a priority search area of approximately and commissioned a survey vessel from the British Ministry of Defence with sonar equipment to search the seabed for the aircraft. The AAIB search carried out by the vessel Geo Ocean III started on 3 February, together with the private search. The planned search was to cover an area of about north of Guernsey. The search area was divided between the two teams. On 3 February, wreckage of N264DB was found on the seabed at about from the last known location. The wreckage was at a depth of . Images from the AAIB search remote submersible had shown the registration mark and at least one body inside the wreckage. The vertical stabiliser, the horizontal stabiliser, and the outer panels of both wings were missing, and the damage to the cockpit was so severe that it was impossible to determine control positions or flight instrument readings with any confidence. His body was identified by means of fingerprint evidence. On 11 February, the results of a post-mortem reported that Sala had died of "head and trunk injuries". The daughter of the pilot David Ibbotson launched a crowdfunding appeal to locate his body, which raised over £250,000, including a donation of £27,000 from French footballer Kylian Mbappé. The money raised was used to pay for a second dive to the wreck on 27 February and for a helicopter search of coastal areas in the Channel Islands, but no body was found. ==Investigation==

The crash site lies in international waters. Under Annex 13 to the Convention on Civil Aviation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had responsibility for investigating the accident because the aircraft was registered in the United States. The NTSB, in agreement with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) delegated responsibility for the investigation to the AAIB because the aircraft was based in the UK. Ibbotson's type rating for the Piper Malibu had expired months prior to the crash. Post mortem tests on Sala's body showed exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) with a carboxyhemoglobin level of 58%, which could have led to symptoms including seizure, unconsciousness or a heart attack. AAIB final report The AAIB published its final report into the accident on 13 March 2020. During the flight from Cardiff to Nantes, Ibbotson reported hearing a "bang" or "boom". The AAIB could not determine what caused this, or whether it was a factor in the accident. ==Legal proceedings==

In September 2019, the director of the company responsible for security at the mortuary in Bournemouth was jailed for 14 months, for accessing CCTV footage of Sala's post-mortem and posting it on Twitter. One of her employees was jailed for 5 months on the same charge of computer misuse. In June 2019, Dorset Police arrested David Henderson on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act in respect of the death of Sala. Henderson had arranged the flight and had originally intended to fly the plane. Police decided not to proceed with the case for manslaughter, but on 26 October, Henderson appeared at Cardiff Crown Court, via video link, charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft and attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation. Henderson pleaded not guilty to both charges and was granted bail until 18 October 2021. On that date, he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to discharge a passenger without permission or authorisation. The court uncovered communications before the flight in which Henderson discussed Ibbotson's inadequate qualifications and asked others not to talk about the flight because "questions may be asked about his flying". In his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Foxton said that Henderson had been aware that David Ibbotson was not qualified to fly at night, but had allowed the flight to go ahead because delaying it would have led to increased handling and landing fees. In February 2022, Henderson was refused leave to appeal against the sentence. Cardiff City FC sought €115 million compensation from FC Nantes after Sala's death, alleging negligence on FC Nantes' part. In March 2026 the Tribunal de Commerce de Nantes ruled that FC Nantes was not liable. ==Inquest==

Following Henderson's conviction in October 2021, It concluded on 17 March with the verdict that Sala and Ibbotson had been affected by carbon monoxide poisoning from the plane's engine before the crash. The jury said that Ibbotson may have "felt under pressure" to fly due to the importance of the customer, while the coroner called for tighter regulation of unlicenced commercial flights. ==See also==