Pilot named as search for missing plane continues

Wednesday 23 January 2019

The pilot flying the light aircraft which disappeared near Alderney on Monday night has been named, as a dad of three from England.

Dave Ibbotson, 60, was reportedly booked to take footballer Emiliano Sala from Nantes to Cardiff, following the signing of his multi million pound contract.

Mr Ibbotson lived near Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, and has been described as an "experienced private pilot". 

He is believed to have been flying the Piper PA-46 Malibu from France to the Welsh capital. It had left Nantes on Monday evening, and last made contact with Air Traffic Control in Jersey at around 20:30.

The single engine plane is thought to have gone down near Les Casquets, but a search has so far found nothing linked with the aircraft or either of the men on board.

At lunch time today a statement issued by Guernsey Police said 280sq miles of a targeted search area had been checked over the previous five hours. Previously the Harbour Master, Captain David Barker had said that 1,155sq miles had already been checked.

Today, Captain Barker said; "There is as yet no trace today of the missing aircraft. The search is ongoing and a decision whether to continue will be taken later today."
Speaking earlier this morning the Harbour Master had confirmed there were three planes, and one helicopter in the air, looking for the two men and the plane. Mobile phone data and satellite imagery was also being reviewed.

The search continues to be based on four possibilities, outlined earlier today:

• 1. They have landed elsewhere but not made contact.
• 2. They landed on water, have been picked up by a passing ship but not made contact 
• 3. They landed on water and made it into the life raft we know was on board
• 4. The aircraft broke up on contact with the water, leaving them in the sea. 

Captain Barker said the search area was prioritised on the life raft option.

Shortly after that, some debris was found at Bouley Bay in Jersey but it turned out to be a fishing crate and is not believed to be linked with the search for the missing Piper Malibu, Mr Ibbotson or Mr Sala.

Pictured: Captain David Barker, Guernsey's Harbour Master, who has been coordinating the search. 

The search for the single engine plane has attracted global attention, because the newly signed Premier League Footballer Sala was on board.

He was on his way from Nantes to Cardiff, with reports saying he was only in the Welsh city on Friday, returning this weekend to pick up his personal effects; and that he had turned down a highly-paid job offer to go to a Chinese club at the "11th hour."

The Argentinian striker had apparently rejected an offer of double the £15million transfer fee from FC Nantes to Cardiff FC just three days ago. 

"His Premier League dream was stronger than the mind-blowing bid from China," said French site Le 10 Sport. 

Commenters have already begun to point out how tragic the chain of events seems to have become. 

In Argentina, Sala’s father Horacio told channel C5N: “I didn’t know anything because I’m away from home. A friend who saw it on TV told me. I’m in despair.” 

Julio Muller, the mayor of Progreso, the small town in the farming province of Santa Fe where Sala grew up, told Clarin online: “The town is in shock. The only thing we were talking about was his transfer.”

Pictured: A still from a Canal Sport TV report showing Sala as a teenager. View here. 

Sala spent four years at FC Nantes the longest stretch at one club of his career. He was the third highest scoring player in the French top division last season. 

Both clubs have now issued statements in relation to the incident; Cardiff City were said to be 'very distressed' by the news. 

Nantes asked their followers to 'Pray for Sala' and organised a vigil at Place Royale in Nantes where they would drop a yellow tulip into the fountain, yellow being the club's colour.

Pictured top: Ibbotson flying a plane with an unknown friend.