According to a BBC report, a football
agent, Willie McKay, has revealed that he arranged the doomed flight that
missing Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala took from Nantes.
He however said he was not
involved in selecting the plane or pilot.
The
search for Argentine Sala, 28, and the pilot David Ibbotson was called off on Thursday.
Their plane disappeared from
radar as they flew over the English Channel on their way to Cardiff on Monday
night.
McKay
has revealed text messages with Sala discussing flight arrangements.
One
of McKay’s sons, Mark, was the agent acting for Nantes in the £15m transfer
that made Sala Cardiff’s record signing earlier in January.
In
the text exchange released to the BBC by McKay, his other son, Jack – who is a
Cardiff player – offers to arrange the private flight for free so Sala could
return to Nantes to pick up his belongings and say goodbye to former team-mates
at the Ligue 1 club.
McKay
said both Mark and Jack had a conversation with Sala about the difficulties of
flying to the French city by commercial airline.
He
also says a Cardiff player liaison official knew of the arrangements that were
made. The BBC has approached the Premier League club for comment.
McKay
said: “With regards to the booking of the flight we contacted Mr David
Henderson, who has flown us and many of our players all over Europe on
countless occasions.
“We
had no involvement in selecting a plane or a pilot and we also wish to make
clear again we do not own the plane that Emiliano flew on.”
The
agent also said he has met Sala’s friends and family to “give them an
understanding of how Emiliano came to be on that plane”.
He
added: “The tragic events that have unfolded have shocked us all.”
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has started an
investigation which will look at “all operational
aspects,” including licensing and flight plans.
Cardiff
have started an internal inquiry to try to establish the events leading up to
the flight, but a senior source has denied reports the club is considering a
multi-million pound negligence lawsuit over the incident.
The
source claimed senior club officials only became aware a private flight had
been arranged after they were alerted by the club’s player liaison officer that
Sala had failed to arrive at Cardiff airport as planned on Monday.
They
also made the point that the club does not have a private jet for players to
use and therefore they could not be expected to have arranged his travel to and
from Nantes.
Argentina’s
president has joined calls from Sala’s family and many fellow footballers for
the search to resume.
Cardiff’s
players will wear yellow daffodils for Tuesday’s Premier League fixture at
Arsenal to honour Sala.
Full text message exchange
These
messages between Jack McKay and Sala were translated from French.
Friday,
18 January
7:43pm – Jack McKay:“My
dad has told me that you are going home tomorrow. He could organise a plane to
take you direct to Nantes and to come back on Monday, at a time that suits you,
so you can get to training on Tuesday.”
7:51pm-Emiliano
Sala: “Ah that is great. I was
just in the middle of checking if there are some flights to get to Nantes
tomorrow.”
7:56pm-McKay: “He said he could organise a plane that would go
direct to Nantes.”
7:56pm-
Sala: “How much will it
cost?”
7:56pm-McKay: “Nothing. He said if you help me to score goals it’s
nothing.”
7:59pm-Sala: “Hahaha with pleasure.”
8:00pm-
Sala: “We are going to score lots of
goals.”
8:01pm
– Sala: “I want to leave tomorrow
for Nantes at around 11am and come back on Monday night around 9pm to Cardiff
if that is possible.”
8:05pm
-McKay:“Good. I’ll send a message when
that’s sorted.”
Sunday,
20 January
5:00pm
– McKay: “Hi there is it possible you
could come back at seven in the evening on Monday night? Just because the pilot
has to get home in the north after he gets to Cardiff.”
5:01pm
– Sala:“Hi, Half past seven would be
possible.”
5:03pm
– McKay:“Yes that’s good.”
5:05pm
-Sala: “[PICTURE OF LUGGAGE] Can you
ask if I can bring this on the plane?”
5:06pm
-McKay: “Good yeah.”
5:07pm
– Sala:“But is that going to be OK for
the plane?”
McKay: “Yes there is space on the plane for your
luggage.”
5:12pm
– Sala: “OK.”
Monday,
21 January
4:16pm
– McKay: “I’m going to call in a
moment.”
4.23pm
-McKay: “He said that it is the same
company.”
4.27pm – Sala:“OK thanks.”
Related
