The man who
found missing footballer Emiliano Sala‘s
private plane has said he made the discovery within “a couple of
hours” of beginning his search in the English Channel.
David Mearns,
dubbed “the shipwreck hunter”, led a privately-funded funded
search operation for the aircraft on behalf of the family of the player, who
had just signed for Cardiff City.
“We located
the plane, the wreckage of the plane, on the seabed…very shortly after we
started searching, within the first couple of hours” Mr Mearns told BBC Radio 4’s Todayprogramme.
The Piper
Malibu N264DB, carrying Sala and David Ibbotson, the pilot, disappeared on
21 January, after leaving Nantes in France for Cardiff.
The plane had
requested permission to land before losing contact with Jersey air traffic
control.
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A subsequent
campaign raised £260,000 for the private search, which began early on Sunday
morning.
Mr Mearns,
the director of Blue Water Recoveries, led a team on one search vessel, while
the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) also sent a team aboard
another vessel.
Marine scientist David Mearns, 60, lead the private search in the four mile square area
The marine
scientist confirmed the wreck may contain the missing men’s bodies.
“That’s
a possibility,” he said.
The
privately-funded search team immediately called in the AAIB and stood
down once they found the plane, he added.
“The biggest
surprise, to both of us, was that most of the plane is there. It is broken but
most of it is there.”
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Any further
steps, including the recovery of the plane, are likely to be led by the AAIB.
“Now we’re
talking about an accident scene,” Mr Mearns said.
“It’s no
place for a privately funded recovery attempt.”
The scientist
claims to have located 24 major shipwrecks in his career, including the HMS Hood.
He told the
BBC that wintertime conditions will likely complicate the plane’s
recovery.
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Mr Sala and
Mr Ibbotson’s families were informed about the wreck’s discovery.
“Our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David,” Mr Mearns said on Twitter.
“Our sole thoughts
are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David,” Mr Mearns said on
Twitter.
Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.
Paris St Germain's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scores their first goal. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Paris Saint-Germain secured a fifth successive Ligue 1 title, beating nearest challengers Lens 2-0 away in their penultimate match of the league season on Wednesday.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored after 29 minutes, and substitute Ibrahim Mbaye added a stoppage-time strike to see PSG advance to 76 points, out of the reach of Lens, who are assured of second place on 67 points.
The championship is PSG’s 14th Ligue 1 title and strengthens their status as the most successful club in French league history.
The Parisians, who will play in the Champions League final later this month, were all but assured of the title going into the fixture with a six-point lead over Lens and a vastly superior goal difference, but needed one more point to make sure.
But they needed a series of dramatic saves from goalkeeper Matvey Safonov to ensure victory as their hosts had several good opportunities to win the game in an electric atmosphere at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
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Lens had a 20th-minute header from Adrien Thomasson cleared off the PSG line by Illia Zabarnyi, but nine minutes later, Ousmane Dembele stole the ball from Lens defender Malang Sarr and put a quick pass through for Kvaratskhelia to hammer home from point-blank range.
After that, the best opportunities fell for Lens, but Safonov made a series of sharp stops to deny both Wesley Said and Abdallah Sima, who then struck the post in the 73rd minute to add to the home frustrations.
Teenager Mbaye hit an impressive strike on the counterattack to score PSG’s second goal at the end of the game and give more gloss to the scoreline.
PSG had travelled with a severely depleted squad. Lucas Chevalier, Achraf Hakimi, Lee Kang-in, Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho and Warren Zaire-Emery were all unavailable through injury.
PSG finish their season with a derby away against Paris FC on Sunday and then defend their Champions League crown against Arsenal in Budapest on May 30.
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Lens, whose coach Pierre Sage was voted Coach of the Year by his peers this week, complete their league campaign away at fourth-placed Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday and then play Nice in the French Cup final at the Stade de France in Paris on May 22. Lens will compete in next season’s Champions League.
Lionel Messi will play his last game for Paris St Germain against Clermont on Saturday, coach Christophe Galtier said on Thursday as he called on fans to give the Argentine forward a warm send-off at the Parc des Princes.
Messi, who has 21 goals and 20 assists for PSG in all competitions this season, moved to the French capital from Barcelona in 2021 on a two-year contract.
The 35-year-old, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar and also boasts a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, won the Ligue 1 title in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with PSG as well as the French Super Cup in July 2022.
“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of football. This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes,” Galtier told reporters on Thursday.
Last month, French media reported that Messi was suspended for two weeks after an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia when he was supposed to train with his team following their 3-1 defeat at home to Lorient in the league.
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“This year, he has been an important part of the team, always available. I don’t think any of the comments or criticisms are justified,” Galtier said.
“He’s always been there for the team. It’s been a great privilege to accompany him throughout the season.”
Messi’s future at PSG had been the subject of much speculation recently, with a source close to the Argentina captain telling Reuters that he had received a formal offer to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal next season.
He has also been linked in the media with a move back to boyhood club Barcelona, with the United States’ Major League Soccer club Inter Miami also being touted as a possible destination.
PSG’S TITLE CELEBRATIONS ON HOLD
Messi’s last game for PSG is unlikely to be a joyous affair, with Galtier saying that their title celebrations would be put on ice with the distraught squad’s thoughts occupied with concern for goalkeeper Sergio Rico.
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Rico was involved in a riding accident while participating in an annual pilgrimage in southern Spain, the day after PSG wrapped up the title with one game to spare after a 1-1 draw at Racing Strasbourg.
Rico has been in intensive care after suffering “a serious mishap due to a mule cart and a horse that hit him”, his family said in a statement late on Sunday. Spanish paper Marca reported that Rico had been riding a horse himself.
“There will be no celebrations, it’s been a very difficult week. We’re all affected because we went from winning the French title on Saturday to waking up in more than a little pain on Sunday morning,” Galtier told reporters ahead of PSG’s final league game of the season.
“We’re all affected, and we’re trying as best we can to take our minds off things through the training sessions… We’re very united in sending out lots of positive vibes and energy to Sergio, his mum, his wife and his loved ones.”
Messi walks out on PSG fans after defeat Kunle Solaja
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Paris St Germain were lucky enough to enjoy the continued support of their fans during their 2-0 home defeat against Stade Rennais on Sunday – their first at home in Ligue 1 this season, but only a few players went to the Auteuil kop to greet them after a dismal display.
Kylian Mbappe was one of them after the France forward was denied twice by Rennes keeper Steve Mandanda, but Lionel Messi, who looked nothing like the player who inspired Argentina to the World Cup title last December, walked straight to the dressing room, as did the disappointing Marco Verratti.
PSG lead the standings on 66 points from 28 games with a seven-point advantage over Olympique de Marseille, who ended Stade de Reims’s 19-game unbeaten streak in the league with a 2-1 away win courtesy of an Alexis Sanchez double.
