Sala plane did not have commercial license: investigators

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The plane carrying soccer player Emiliano Sala that crashed in the English Channel last month did not have a commercial license, British investigators said Monday.

But the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the journey would have been allowed as a "private" flight in which costs are shared between pilot and passenger.

Pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was flying 28-year-old Argentine striker Sala to his new Premier League club Cardiff City from his previous side in Nantes in France on January 21 when the accident happened.

Since the pilot's logbook and license were not recovered, it was also unclear whether Ibbotson was authorized to fly at night.

"The basis on which the passenger was being carried on N264DB has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of cost sharing," the AAIB said in an interim report.

A handout video footage still image showing the cabin and break in fuselage from the wreckage of the plane that carried Sala is released by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), February 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

"The aircraft was extensively damaged, and the main body of the aircraft was in three parts held together by electrical and flying control cables," it said. "The engine had disconnected from the cockpit areas, and the rear section of the fuselage had broken away from the forward section adjacent to the trailing edge of the wing."

The aircraft was not fitted with black box data and voice recorders and was not required to be.

Sala's body was recovered from the submerged wreckage on February 7, while Ibbotson has never been found, although his family are hoping a crowdfunding campaign will help raise funds for an underwater search.

Source(s): AFP