malfunctioning exhaust system; the jury determined that Sala was a passenger on a private plane piloted by a pilot who did not have the proper license to fly at night.
Emiliano Sala perished in a plane crash after being overpowered by lethal quantities of carbon monoxide during an illegal commercial flight, according to an inquest panel.
On the evening of January 21, 2019, the 28-year-old athlete was on board a Piper Malibu traveling from Nantes, France, to Wales when it crashed in the English Channel near Guernsey, killing pilot David Ibbotson, 59, whose body has never been discovered.
In a statement, Sala’s family said the inquest had “shone a bright light on many of the missed opportunities in the worlds of football and aviation to prevent his tragic death”.
“The family particularly note the jury’s findings that it is likely that both the pilot and Emiliano suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning and that Emiliano was deeply unconscious at the time of the accident, and that the poisoning was caused by a failure in the aircraft exhaust system,” they added.
“The family also welcome the coroner’s decision to communicate to the relevant authorities her concerns about the safety issues arising from this inquest in order to prevent similar future deaths. No family should have to go through grief from a similar avoidable accident.”
Coroner for Dorset Rachel Griffin is recommending that the UK Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps consider giving the Civil Aviation Authority more powers to tackle the “illegality of these flights and the risks associated with them”.
The Argentina-born striker died from head and chest injuries, although he was profoundly unconscious due to gases from the plane’s defective exhaust system.
Sala was a passenger on a private plane operated by a pilot who did not have the proper license to fly at night, which broke up when it went into the sea, according to the jury at Bournemouth Town Hall.
Despite not being the legally registered operator, pilot and businessman David Henderson, 67, operated the aircraft on behalf of its owner, arranging flights, pilots, and maintenance.
Mr. McKay, a long-time client, was assisting his son Mark’s firm in representing Nantes in the transfer.
Mr. McKay, who was forbidden from working as an agent in the transfer as an undischarged bankrupt at the time, organized the flights to and from Nantes after Sala had undergone a medical in Cardiff.
He said he was merely trying to help Sala return home and that Cardiff City had “abandoned” him.
Emiliano Sala died from head and chest injuries but was deeply unconscious after being poisoned by fumes from the jet’s
