Search Results - Ibbotson, David

2019 English Channel Piper PA-46 crash

On 21 January 2019, a Piper PA-46 Malibu light aircraft transporting Argentine football player Emiliano Sala crashed in the English Channel off Alderney in the Channel Islands. It had been travelling from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, Wales. Sala was due to begin his career at Cardiff City. Radar contact was lost when the aircraft was north of Guernsey. After the search for survivors was abandoned on 24 January, a private search for wreckage was launched. Sala's body was recovered, but no trace of the pilot David Ibbotson was found.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigation found that Sala's body showed high levels of exposure to carbon monoxide which had leaked into the cabin of the aircraft and may have impaired the judgement of the pilot. Ibbotson's rating for flying the aircraft had expired in November 2018 which invalidated his licence, and he was not qualified to fly at night. David Henderson, who organised the flight and was originally scheduled to be the pilot, was charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft. He was found guilty on 28 October 2021, after a trial at Cardiff Crown Court and jailed for 18 months. Provided by Wikipedia