Prosecution launched over Sala plane crash
A BRITISH pilot is being prosecuted over the crash which killed footballer Emiliano Sala just north of Guernsey.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it has charged 66-year-old David Henderson with two offences under the Air Navigation Order (2016).
He is accused of acting in a 'reckless/negligent' manner, and being involved in the commercial use of the plane involved in the crash.
Henderson, of East Riding of Yorkshire, appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on 28 September.
He was bailed to appear at Cardiff Crown Court on 26 October, but the prosecution could further delay the inquest into Sala's death.
This coming January will mark two years since the plan Sala was travelling in crashed into the English Channel.
A law firm representing Sala's mother said she remains 'desperate to know the full truth about how this could have been allowed to happen', and urged the CAA to proceed with its criminal prosecution as swiftly as possible.
Sala was involved in a multimillion-pound transfer from FC Nantes in France to Cardiff City.
The 28-year-old Argentinian was killed when the plane he was travelling in crashed north of Guernsey on January 21, 2019.
His body was recovered the following month, but the body of the pilot, David Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, has not been found.
A report into the crash by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that neither Mr Ibbotson nor the plane were licensed for the flight to operate commercially, but evidence showed he was to be paid a fee.
Unlicensed charter flight operations – known as grey charters – generally incur lower operating costs.
Former football agent Willie McKay has said he paid for the fatal flight, but did not choose the pilot or the plane.
He has explained he was helping his son Mark, who was acting for Nantes, to complete the transfer.
