Emiliano Sala's father has described his anguish and disbelief after wreckage of the plane carrying the missing Premier League footballer was found nearly two weeks after it disappeared.

The 28-year-old Argentinian footballer's father, Horacio Sala, was speaking after a search boat located the wreckage on the seabed of the English Channel on Sunday morning.

"I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate," Mr Sala told Argentinian broadcaster Cronica TV.

"I communicated with them every day, but since I do not have WhatsApp it's hard to call them or call me.

"They told me that the days passed and there was no news of Emiliano or the plane."

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Shipwreck hunter: 'Sala aircraft located'

The Piper Malibu aircraft, which was heading from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff, vanished from radars close to the Channel Islands on 21 January.

Both Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, are missing presumed dead.

Sala had just completed a £15m transfer to Cardiff City from French club Nantes.

Two vessels were looking for traces of the missing plane after a successful online appeal to fund the effort.

Shipwreck hunter David Mearns led the private search that was looking for the aircraft in an area of four square miles.

Image: Dave Ibbotson was the pilot of the aircraft

Mr Mearns, the director of Blue Water Recoveries, led a team on the vessel FPV Morven while the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) also sent a team aboard its Geo Ocean III.

He told Sky News: "This is about the best result we could have hoped for the families.

"But tonight they have heard devastating news and in respect of the families I won't comment any further about what has happened."

Mr Mearns later tweeted "our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David", adding that the AAIB would be making a statement on Monday.

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

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Mearns said the AAIB had a "high confidence level" the plane would be in the search zone.

It has been an anxious and heartbreaking time for the Argentinian striker's family since his aircraft disappeared.

The plane had requested to descend before it lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.

'I'm scared': Sala's audio message from plane

Sky News correspondent Tom Parmenter, who is in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, said: "It was early in the morning at about 9am, the very early stages of the search that had got under way at first light this morning... that they saw something with the sonar equipment that they had on board.

"They carried out further passes over that area to pinpoint and have a closer look.

"They went through various stages of identification through the course of today, and David Mearns confirmed to me that they have now positively identified the wreckage as that of the plane that had been carrying the Argentinian footballer."

Image: Vessels resumed the search to a narrowed suspected crash site

The official hunt for the plane was called off on 24 January just three days after the plane went missing, but the search resumed on Monday 28 January thanks to a crowdfunding appeal.

Guernsey's harbour master Captain David Barker said the chances of survival following such a long period were "extremely remote".

The aircraft was located four days after two seat cushions were found that were likely to have come from the plane.</s>The wreckage from a plane carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala has been discovered in the English Channel.

The Piper Malibu N264DB was lost on 21 January on its way from Nantes, France, to Cardiff, with the Argentine striker and pilot David Ibbotson on board.

David Mearns, who led a privately-funded search for the aircraft, said it was located off Guernsey on Sunday.

He said: “All I will say is that there is a substantial amount of wreckage on the seabed.”

“We located the wreckage of the plane on the seabed at a depth of about 63m within the first couple of hours (of searching),” he said on BBC’s Radio5.

He said the plane was identified by sonar, before a submersible with cameras was sent underwater and was able to confirm it was the plane.

“They saw the registration number and the biggest surprise is that most of the plane is there,” he added.

Mr Mearns’s private search has now been stopped and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is at the site working to recover the plane.

He said further investigations by the AAIB would be conducted over the next two days in order to determine how it will attempt a recovery operation.

Speaking to Argentinian broadcaster Cronica TV, Sala’s father Horacio said: “I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate.”

Cardiff had signed Sala for a club record of £15m and he was due to start training last month.

The 28-year-old striker and Mr Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, North Lincolnshire, were travelling from Nantes, where he had previously played, when the flight lost contact with air traffic controllers.</s>Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson’s plane has been found on the seabed of the English Channel, more than two weeks after he went missing. Mr Ibbotson was flying Mr Sala to Cardiff for training with his new team, after saying goodbye to his former teammates at Nantes. Their Piper PA-46 went missing near the channel islands at Alderney, and official searches were unable to locate any remnants of the aircraft. After a successful GoFundMe campaign, a new search commenced, led by marine scientist David Mearns, which has now been successful.

According to Mr Mearns, most of the plane being present was a “surprise”.

He said: "We located the wreckage of the plane on the seabed at a depth of about 63m within a couple of hours of starting to search.

"After that we needed to identify the plane.

“Initially we had to do that with our sonars to make sure it wasn't any other objects on the seabed.

“We made a series of high resolution passes that enabled us to define that this was most probably a plane."</s>A body is visible in seabed video footage of the wreckage of the plane which crashed in the English Channel with Cardiff footballer Emiliano Sala on board.

A body is visible in seabed video footage of the wreckage of the plane which crashed in the English Channel with Cardiff footballer Emiliano Sala on board.

Body visible in seabed footage of wreckage of Emiliano Sala’s plane

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the footage was filmed using an underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) which was surveying the area after the plane was located on Sunday.

Analysis of the footage by AAIB investigators confirmed the wreckage was of the missing Piper Malibu aircraft, which disappeared in poor weather near Guernsey on January 21.

The AAIB said in a statement: “The ROV carried out a further search of the area overnight, but did not identify any additional pieces of wreckage.

“Tragically, in video footage from the ROV, one occupant is visible amidst the wreckage.”

The image shows the rear left side of the fuselage, including part of the aircraft registration, N264DB.

A decision has yet to be taken on whether to raise the wreckage to the surface.

The statement added: “The AAIB is now considering the next steps, in consultation with the families of the pilot and passenger, and the police.”

Emiliano Sala’s father has spoken of his anguish and disbelief after the wreckage was discovered.

Speaking at his home in Argentina, Horacio Sala said he was “desperate” after a privately-funded search operation found the aircraft in waters north of Guernsey on Sunday.

“I cannot believe it. This is a dream. A bad dream. I am desperate,” Mr Sala told local broadcaster Cronica TV.

The Piper Malibu carrying 28-year-old Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, disappeared over the English Channel after leaving Nantes in France for Cardiff.

Two vessels, including one commissioned by the AAIB, had been taking part in a fresh search covering an area of around four square nautical miles on Sunday when the wreckage was located.

Marine scientist David Mearns, the director of Blue Water Recoveries, led a team on the search vessel FPV Morven while the AAIB also sent a team aboard the Geo Ocean III, a specialist vessel commissioned for the task.

The privately-funded operation on behalf of the Sala family was made possible after a campaign raised more than £260,000 to pay for it.

The plane had requested to descend before it lost contact with Jersey air traffic control.

An official search operation was called off on January 24 after Guernsey’s harbour master Captain David Barker said the chances of survival following such a long period were “extremely remote”.

Two seat cushions, which are likely to have come from the plane, were found last week on the French coast.

Cardiff had signed the footballer for a club record £15million and he was due to start training last month.</s>A body has been seen in the wreckage of the missing plane carrying footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson, it has been confirmed.

Search teams who discovered the wreck of the Piper PA-46 Malibu said footage from underwater cameras had confirmed one body was visible.

The plane which disappeared with Cardiff City footballer Sala and pilot Mr Ibbotson, was found in the English Channel yesterday morning during a private search, with confirmation from search director David Mearns coming last night.

And at just before noon today, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said underwater video footage shows one occupant visible in the wreckage.

The aircraft disappeared on Monday, January 21 on a flight from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff after Sala, 28, completed a club record signing for £15m

Mr Ibbotson , 60, a private pilot who ran a plumbing and gas engineering business near Crowle in Northern Lincolnshire, had been at the controls.

The aircraft disappeared from radar at a height of 2,300ft while flying near the Channel Island of Alderney.

A huge air and sea search in the days after the plane went missing discovered no wreckage or sign of a crash.

And under pressure from Sala’s family and the public a further search was authorised including an underwater search by a specialist ship, the Geo Ocean III and the FPV Morven, which was funded by the Sala family.

Updates will appear below.</s>Wreckage from a plane carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala has been discovered in the English Channel.The Piper Malibu N264DB was lost on 21 January on its way from Nantes, France to Cardiff, with the Argentine striker and pilot David Ibbotson on board. David Mearns, who …read more via Modern Ghana News – http://bit.ly/2Gsbo4P Get More Nigeria Sports News</s>The wreckage of a plane carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot has been found two weeks after it disappeared in the English Channel, one of the investigators said on Monday. Sala, 28, was flying from France to join his new club, Premier League side Cardiff City, when the light aircraft disappeared on January 21 north of the island of Guernsey. Shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who was hired by the striker’s family after the official rescue effort was called off, said the plane was found on Sunday morning.

“It is broken but most of it is there,” he told BBC radio. Sala’s father Horacio spoke of his shock from his home in Progreso, Argentina, telling Cronica TV: “I can’t believe it. It’s a bad dream.” A spokesperson for Britain’s official Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) told AFP: “I can confirm it has been found.” A further statement is expected later on Monday. Mearns said his private company, Blue Water Recoveries, had found the wreckage before calling in the AAIB to take a closer look. “They dove with their remotely operated vehicle, that’s a submersible with cameras and lights, and indeed confirmed that it was the plane,” he said.

“They saw the registration number and the biggest surprise to both of us was that most of the plane is there.” Asked if the bodies of Sala and the British pilot, David Ibbotson, would be inside, he said: “That’s a possibility.” Sala was flying to Cardiff after transferring from French team Nantes in a 17 million euro ($19.3 million) move — a record deal for the Welsh team. The plane, a Piper PA-46 Malibu, vanished from radar around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Guernsey, with pilot Ibbotson the only other person aboard.

The family hired Mearns after the official rescue team gave up their search, saying there was little chance of finding anyone alive. “This is about the best result we could have hoped for the families,” Mearns told Sky News. Suspected debris from the plane washed up on the Normandy coastline in France last Wednesday. Top footballers were among more than 4,500 contributors to a crowdfunding page that raised over 300,000 euros ($343,000) to look for the wreckage.

Horacio was the only member of the Sala family to stay behind in Argentina as the others rushed to France and Guernsey to try to help with the search. “I talk to them every day,” he said. “They kept saying days were going by, and that there had been zero word on Emiliano, or on the plane.” The authorities will now resume control of the investigation, Mearns said. The AAIB hired offshore supply ship Geo Ocean III for three days, starting on Sunday, but the search will be dependent on the weather.

At Cardiff’s match against Bournemouth on Saturday, Sala’s photograph appeared on the front cover of the matchday programme. The two captains laid floral tributes on the halfway line before what the club called a “silent reflection”. Sala’s name, in the Argentina colours, was also spelled out behind one of the goals as supporters held cards aloft. Cardiff manager Neil Warnock said Sala would have been “really proud” of the team after they won 2-0 in their first home match since the plane vanished. Programme notes, penned by owner Vincent Tan and the rest of the Bluebirds’ board, said events had shaken “Cardiff City to its very core”.</s>LONDON — The missing plane carrying Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot has been found, investigators told AFP on Sunday.

“I can confirm it has been found,” a spokeswoman for Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said. She said the AAIB would issue a statement on Monday.

Sala was travelling from France to join up with his new club, Premier League side Cardiff City, in a light aircraft on January 21 when it went missing close to the Channel Islands.

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Suspected debris from the plane washed up on the Normandy coastline in France last Wednesday.

Sala was flying in the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane after transferring from French team Nantes in a 17 million euro ($19.3 million) move.

It vanished from radar around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Guernsey, with pilot Dave Ibbotson the only other person aboard.

David Mearns, whose private company, Blue Water Recoveries, was hired by Sala’s family to search for the plane, said on Twitter that the wreck was spotted early Sunday.

“There’s a substantial amount of wreckage on the seabed,” he wrote, adding: “This is about the best result we could have hoped for the families.”

Top footballers were among more than 4,500 contributors to a crowdfunding page that raised over 300,000 euros ($343,000) to look for the wreck.</s>Private investigators said late on Sunday that they had found the wreckage of a plane that went down over the English Channel on January 21. The aircraft had been carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson.

"I can confirm it has been found," a spokesperson for Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch said.

The Piper PA-46 Malibu airplane had been en route to Cardiff in Wales from Nantes, France. It disappeared around 8:30 pm local time, about 13 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of the island of Alderney.

The plane was built in 1984 and had last received a certificate of airworthiness in 2015. Investigators have said there are some questions about Ibbotson's pilot's license, which may not have permitted him to carry passengers for profit.

An official search for the plane began shortly after the plane's disappearance. It was suspended on January 24, after the Channel Islands Air Search said there was "no hope" of finding survivors. A private search organized by Sala's family and paid for by crowdfunding was launched two days later.

On Wednesday, debris from the plane washed ashore on the Normandy coastline.

Sala, 28, was born in Cululu, Argentina. He had spent his professional career in France, before being signed by Welsh club Cardiff City. He had been leaving Nantes to start his tenure in Wales when he boarded the flight.</s>Wreckage from the plane which disappeared carrying footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson on board has been found in the English Channel.

David Mearns, a marine scientist directing the private search, said the plane carrying the Cardiff City player was found earlier this morning.

In a tweet he said: "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."

He confirmed that the families of both the men have been notified by police in another tweet.

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He added: "The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow. Tonight our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David. EmilianoSalas NoDejenDeBuscarAEmilianoSala ."

The 28-year-old Argentine was travelling alone with the pilot from former club Nantes to Cardiff when his plane went missing last Monday.

Sala had signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Cardiff and had visited his former club to say goodbye to his team mates.
The wreckage of the Piper PA-46 Malibu light aircraft, which went missing on January 21, 2019, with two people on board, including Cardiff City F.C. record signing Emiliano Sala, is discovered on the seabed of the English Channel.