The wreckage of the plane which disappeared with Emiliano Sala on board has been found in the English Channel, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has confirmed.
David Mearns, who is co-ordinating the privately funded search for the aircraft carrying Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, stated that the wreckage was discovered on Sunday morning, and added that the families had been informed.
The AAIB confirmed to Omnisport that the debris had been located, with an official statement to follow on Monday as attempts to recover the aircraft begin.
‘Wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and piloted by David Ibbotson was located early this morning [Sunday] by the FPV MORVEN,’ Mearns wrote on Twitter.
‘As agreed with the AAIB they moved the GEO OCEAN III over the position we provided for them to visually identify the plane by ROV.
‘The families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson have been notified by police. The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow. Tonight, our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David.’
Wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and piloted by David Ibbotson was located early this morning by the FPV MORVEN. As agreed with the AAIB they moved the GEO OCEAN III over the position we provided them to visually identify the plane by ROV. #EmilianoSala
— David Mearns (@davidlmearns) February 3, 2019
The families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson have been notified by Police. The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow. Tonight our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David. #EmilianoSalas #NoDejenDeBuscarAEmilianoSala
— David Mearns (@davidlmearns) February 3, 2019
An underwater search began earlier on Sunday, involving the AAIB and a privately funded vessel.
The previous significant update from the AAIB came when seat cushions, thought to be from the plane, were found on a beach in northern France on Wednesday.
It is 10 days since Guernsey Police ceased looking for the Piper Malibu aircraft with Sala and Ibbotson aboard.
The plane went missing over the English Channel en route to Cardiff from Nantes on 21 January.
Sala, 28, had just completed a transfer to Cardiff City and was back in France to bid farewell to his former teammates at Ligue 1 side Nantes.
Initial search and rescue efforts spanned three days without any trace of the plane being found, when the authorities opted to call a halt to their scanning of the area.
The Guernsey harbourmaster, captain David Barker, called their chances of survival ‘extremely remote’, but a number of high-profile football figures and members of the public answered the family’s calls to fund a private search operation headed up by Mearns.
