Soccer Star Emiliano Sala Was Lost When The Piper Malibu Went Down

An American-born marine scientist and salvage expert will begin to conduct a privately-funded search for the Piper Malibu which went down last week in the English Channel. Soccer star Emiliano Sala and the pilot of the plane, David Ibbotson, 59, of Crowle, Lincolnshire were lost when the plane went down.

The official search was called off last Thursday, but the Associated Press reports that David Mearns says there is a "very good chance" to find the aircraft.

More than $340,000 has been raised through private sources to fund the effort. Mearns said that the goal of the search is to locate and positively identify the aircraft. If it is to be recovered, that would be the responsibility of police and other authorities.

Mearns said that while the search area is small, it will not be easy to locate the aircraft. "There are complications in terms of it being a small plane, the bottom is very hard, there is lots of other wreckage out there and we have the weather. We are working in the worst time (of the year)," he said.

Sala had just signed with the Cardiff soccer club for a record $19 million. He had returned to Nantes, France where he had previously played to collect his personal things and say goodbye to his teammates and staff. He was returning to Cardiff aboard the Malibu when it went down in the Channel.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Source report