Pilot search starting today

Wednesday 27 February 2019

Divers believed to be involved in the search for missing pilot David Ibbotson are going down in the area around Les Casquets lighthouse today.

The plane he was flying went down in the Channel, north west of Alderney last month.

Mr Ibbotson is still missing, presumed dead, as he has not been seen since his plane left Nantes that night and crashed into the sea while flying to Cardiff.

His passenger, footballer Emiliano Sala, was found fatally injured within the battered plane and his body was retrieved before being returned to his family in Argentina where he was buried earlier this month.

Pictured: Emiliano Sala's body was found after the fatal accident. His family and friends were joined by the footballing community and fans at a memorial service at his boyhood club in Argentina. 

The official search by the Air Accident Investigation Branch was called off after Mr Sala's body was found as there was no sign of anyone else in the plane wreckage. With the weather conditions worsening the decision was also made to leave the plane at the bottom of the English Channel. Since then, the AAIB has released its interim report into the accident, which raises many more questions than it answers. 

Released on Monday, the interim report aimed to give an initial insight into how the flight from Nantes to Cardiff on 21 January met its tragic conclusion.

Ahead of its publication, there had been speculation over everything ranging from pilot Mr Ibbotson's credentials to the plane's condition and whether ice on the plane's wings may have been a problem.

Pictured: The interim AAIB report into the accident was released this week. 

While the AAIB has said it won't be launching another search to try and recover the plane or to find Mr Ibbotson, a fundraising campaign launched by his daughter has won the support of the public, with more than a quarter of a million pounds raised.

That money was to be used to fund a private search to find Mr Ibbotson.

Guernsey Harbours has asked local mariners to avoid a boat called Skin Deep which will be around Les Casquets between 06:00 and 12:00 on Wednesday, alongside local vessel the Access Challenger. 

The Guernsey Harbours notice is here. 

Neither the vessels nor Guernsey Harbours could confirm to Express what the divers will be doing in the area. 

The search area will be within a radius of three miles around the lighthouse, which is near where the Piper Malibu Mr Ibbotson was flying lost contact with Air Traffic Control.

He had been asked to fly Mr Sala from France to Wales after he had signed a contract to join the English Premier league side Cardiff FC. Mr Sala's £15million deal was the most the bluebirds have ever paid for a player.

Today is believed to be the deadline for the first payment to be made for Mr Sala as part of his football contract. Cardiff City has so far deferred making any payments to Nantes FC for the Argentine striker.

Pictured top: The plane David Ibbotson was flying went off radar near Les Casquets lighthouse last month.