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Body is recovered from plane that crashed carrying Emiliano Sala but investigators CANNOT say if it is the footballer or his pilot – and admit the aircraft itself may NEVER be brought to the surface

  • One body was brought to the surface before the rescue mission was ended
  • Officials said they will not be bringing the entire wreckage to the surface
  • Unclear whether the body of Emiliano Sala or pilot David Ibbotson was found 
A body has been recovered from the wreckage of a plane which crashed into the English Channel with Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala on board and is now off the coast of Dorset today.
The plane flying from Nantes, France to Cardiff on January 21 went missing with the new £15million signing Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, inside.
It remains unclear whether the body is that of the Argentine forward or Mr Ibbotson but a full examination by a coroner in Portland, Dorset, is due to take place. 
Remotely operated Vehicles (ROVs) were used in ‘challenging conditions’ to pull the body out of the water ‘in as dignified a way as possible’, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said on Wednesday night.  
The aircraft remains 67 metres underwater 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey. The AAIB says attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful and, due to continued poor weather forecast, ‘the difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close’.
The Piper Malibu aircraft remains more than 200 feet below water and is 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey in the English Channel as poor weather conditions stopped efforts to recover it.  
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said: ‘Following extensive visual examination of the accident site using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV), it was decided to attempt recovery operations.
‘In challenging conditions, the AAIB and its specialist contractors successfully recovered the body previously seen amidst the wreckage. The operation was carried out in as dignified a way as possible and the families were kept informed of progress.’ 
The statement said it has not been possible to bring the wreckage to the surface and the operation has now ceased. 
It continued: ‘Unfortunately, attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful before poor weather conditions forced us to return the ROV to the ship. 
‘The weather forecast is poor for the foreseeable future and so the difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close. The body is currently being taken to Portland to be passed into the care of the Dorset Coroner.
‘Although it was not possible to recover the aircraft, the extensive video record captured by the ROV is expected to provide valuable evidence for our safety investigation.’ 
The official search was called off on January 24 after Guernsey’s harbour master claimed the chances of survival for those on board was ‘extremely remote’. 
Yet the remains of the aircraft were tracked down by a team co-ordinated by ocean scientist David Mearns, who has located some of the most elusive wrecks in the world.  
Mr Mearns – known as the ‘Shipwreck Hunter’ – and his team located the aircraft within two hours of commencing their search.
He said he discovery had been so quick because the team had been looking for a static object rather than in a dynamic environment searching for survivors. 
The wreckage was found on Sunday after specialist robotic submarines were brought in. 
The sea search vessel FPV Morven picked up the wreckage using sonar and an unmanned Air Accident Investigation Branch submarine sent to the sea bed used an HD camera to identify the blue and white aircraft.  
‘No-one should walk away with the impression that the Coastguard and also the Channel Islands air search did anything other than a professional job,’ he said.
The AAIB said it expected to publish an interim report within the month.
While it is not clear who the body was both families have grieved for the men. 
Mr Ibbotson’s heartbroken daughter, sister and nephew were among loved ones paying respects to the 60-year-old gas engineer, part time pilot and devoted family man, earlier this week.
His younger sister Helen Kapatysulias wrote: ‘To David, my gentle brother. I have so many memories of you, mine is of you when you were coming home from school, you used to pick me up and carry me home. I will lock these memories in my heart forever.
‘All I would like is to see your face, smiling, cheekily, again. I know you’re safe wherever you are. I pray that one day I will see you again, my gentle Big Brother.
‘I love you forever and always and will never forget you

Comments

  1. PreciousachieversFebruary 21, 2019 at 9:06 AM

    Is sala still alive? or is that they are scared to admit that he is really dead?
    Whats your say about this guys............

    ReplyDelete

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