Family of missing footballer enlist shipwreck hunter
FOOTBALLER Emiliano Sala’s family still have hope he is alive after his plane disappeared without trace last week.
His mother Mercedes and sister arrived in Guernsey yesterday afternoon looking for answers about what happened to him.
The player was being flown by pilot David Ibbotson from Nantes to Cardiff on Monday night when the plane disappeared north-west of Alderney.
An official four-day search was called off on Thursday, but a GoFundMe page has raised more than £259,000 to fund a private operation.
Renowned oceanographer David Mearns also arrived in Guernsey yesterday to spearhead the new search. He famously discovered the wrecks of the HMS Hood and the Bismark.
Mr Mearns confirmed that Mr Sala’s mother and sister, as well as some friends, had arrived in Guernsey to try and get answers.
‘The family still have some hope. They are looking at this as a missing person and a missing plane,’ he told the world media at Guernsey Airport last night.
He said that until they were satisfied 'that is the mode we are in.’
Exact logistics of the search are expecting to be announced shortly but for now it appears it will focus above the water line.
‘At some point in the future, we will be looking at more investigative, technical searches underwater,’ Mr Mearns said.
Guernsey head of Law Enforcement Ruari Harding and Harbourmaster David Barker were both at the airport yesterday as well, in meetings with the new arrivals.
Local marine expert Richard Keen has advising on the search.
He said that two of Guernsey’s largest fishing vessels have been searching the area, even in 60 knot gusts over the weekend.
‘They’ve got fishing gear in one of the most promising areas, near Les Casquets, and one of the things that gear is good at is snagging aircraft,’ Mr Keen said.
‘It sounds low tech but my money would be on the fishermen finding something.’
He said that a specialist survey vessel was likely to be brought over from the UK.
Channel Islands Air Search and lifeboats from Guernsey and Alderney were involved in the original search, as well as teams from the UK and France, but nothing has so far been found.
