The part-time pilot who
flew Emiliano Sala from France to Wales before crashing into the Channel
made ‘basic errors’ before take-off, it was revealed today.
David Ibbotson was also not allowed to
take paying passengers because he only had a private licence – not a commercial
one – and didn’t have the qualifications to fly in bad weather but took their
plane into a winter storm, it has also emerged.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) will release its interim report into the accident at 2pm on Monday.
But ahead of that publication new
documents from France have emerged about Mr Ibbotson’s qualifications and
pre-flight preparations.
Images uploaded to social media by Fox
Sports journalist Christian Martin appear to show that in his flight plan Mr
Ibbotson, a boiler engineer by trade, made a number of ‘basic errors’.
One image shows how Ibbotson apparently
incorrectly filled in the plane’s licence number on the form, writing N246DB
instead of N264DB.
The pilot also reportedly used Visual
Flight Rules (VFR) instead of Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).
This means his qualifications only
allowed him to fly at night if conditions were clear without any bad weather.
But the plane flew into a storm over
the Channel and it is feared the instruments froze before the aircraft crashed
into the sea.
Mr Martin claims the paperwok shows Mr
Ibbotson accepted ‘the disregard of flying with instruments, key to flying
between clouds without visibility. That night there were many clouds and a cold
snap over the English Channel’.
Martin described the mistakes as ‘basic
errors’.
In order for pilots to fly VFR, they
cannot fly through clouds and in some types of airspace they have to be able to
see the ground.
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Under VFR, pilots are responsible for
seeing other aircraft and avoiding collisions and it requires a minimum
standard of weather conditions to be present to be allowed, known as visual
meteorological conditions (VMC).
When the operation of an aircraft under
VFR is not safe, because the visual cues outside the aircraft are obscured by
weather, instrument flight rules (IFR) must be used instead
Martin also appeared to confirm
MailOnline’s exclusive that Mr Ibbotson was not authorised to take paying
passengers because of his private pilot’s licence.
A private search is underway to find
Ibbotson’s body with his family having raised over £240,000 to pay for
it.
Investigators removed Mr Sala’s body
from the Piper Malibu N264DB a fortnight ago and ended their attempts to
recover the aircraft wreckage because of poor weather.
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His body was brought to Portland,
Dorset, by the Geo Ocean III boat, and taken on a stretcher to an ambulance,
before being transferred to the coroner.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch
(AAIB) said the families of both men had been kept informed of progress, and
identification of the body was a matter for the police and coroner for
Dorset.
The aircraft remains 67 metres
underwater 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey in the English Channel.
The remains of the plane were
discovered two weeks ago. It had disappeared on January 21 as it travelled from
Nantes in France to Cardiff.
The AAIB said previously that the work
of the ROVs has been hampered by the difficult tidal conditions around the
Channel Islands.
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The plane had requested to descend
before it lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.
An official search operation was called
off on January 24 after Guernsey’s harbour master David Barker said the chances
of survival following such a long period were ‘extremely remote’
The remains of the aircraft were
tracked down by a team co-ordinated by ocean scientist David Mearns, who has
located some of the most elusive wrecks in the world.
Mr Mearns and his team located the
aircraft within two hours of starting their search.
He told the Press Association the
discovery had been so quick because the team had been looking for a static
object rather than in a dynamic environment searching for survivors.
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‘No-one should walk away with the
impression that the Coastguard and also the Channel Islands air search did
anything other than a professional job,’ he said.
Cardiff had signed Sala, a 28-year-old
Argentinian striker, for a club record £15 million.
It has emerged that Nantes has demanded
payment from Cardiff for the player’s transfer.
It is understood Cardiff received a
letter from Nantes on Tuesday, in which the French Ligue 1 club threatened to
take legal action if the first scheduled payment of the fee is not made within
10 days.
It is believed Cardiff have been left
surprised by the demand, considering the circumstances and the timing, and
would rather the investigation into the tragedy is completed first.
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.
