Family launch private search for missing Sala, plane

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Relatives of missing Premier League player Emiliano Sala have launched a private search for his plane, which disappeared over the Channel after local police called off their own rescue mission.

Maria Jose Sottini, a friend of Sala's sister Romina, has confirmed to AFP that a privately-funded search led by a non-governmental organization had begun on Saturday.

"The fund-raising appeal launched late Friday afternoon enabled Emiliano Sala's relatives, via a specialized organization, to resume research in the Channel early this Saturday morning," said a statement on the GoFundMe website, with "two boats are leading the operations."

Screenshot from GoFundMe website

More than 3,500 people have so far contributed to the appeal, raising almost 270,000 euros (around 308,000 U.S. dollars).

A light aircraft transporting Sala, who signed for Cardiff City last weekend, vanished from radar around 20 kilometers north of the Channel island of Guernsey on Monday night.

Sala, who moved from French club Nantes for a reported fee of 17 million euros (19.3 million U.S. dollars), was flying from the French city to Cardiff.

Rescue workers formally called off the search for the missing plane on Thursday.

As investigators probe what happened, it emerged that football agent Willie McKay arranged for the flight but did not choose the plane or its pilot.

He published text messages showing how his son Jack - a Cardiff player - offered to Sala to organize the flight at no cost.

"We had no involvement in selecting a plane or a pilot and wish to make clear we do not own the plane that Emiliano flew on,” said McKay in a statement.

"As the text messages show: Emiliano was not asked for payment for the flight," it went on to say.

McKay's other son, Mark, was the acting agent for Nantes in Sala's transfer.

The local coastguard has named the pilot, the only other person in the plane, as David Ibbotson.

Source(s): AFP