Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Emiliano Sala's body was found in the plane's wreckage

The pilot of the plane that crashed with Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala on board did not have a licence for commercial flights, investigators say.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed David Ibbotson held a private pilot's licence.

Its interim report said he could only fly passengers in the EU on a cost sharing basis, not for reward.

Cardiff City said it had "grave concerns" and questions over the validity of the pilot's licence.

Investigators have not yet been able to establish what arrangement Mr Ibbotson had with Sala, and the status of the 59-year-old's licence at the time of the crash on 21 January will form part of the AAIB's investigations.

Image copyright AAIB Image caption The wreckage was found in three parts on the seabed of the English Channel

Sala was found in the wreckage of the Piper Malibu N264DB, which was found on the seabed 13 days after it vanished over the English Channel near Guernsey.

He had completed his transfer to Premier League side Cardiff from French club Nantes just two days earlier - for a club record fee of £15m - and had returned to France to say goodbye to his former teammates.

Mr Ibbotson has not yet been found and his family hope a fresh search for his body will begin this week after setting up an online fundraising campaign which has raised £250,000.

The aircraft remains underwater off the coast of Guernsey after an attempt to recover it was hampered by bad weather.

What is cost sharing?

Image copyright Jamie Brownfield Image caption The Piper Malibu N264DB aircraft was taking Sala from Nantes to Cardiff

As flying is an expensive pastime, cost sharing allows pilots to notch up their flying hours while sharing the cost of fuel, landing fees and other expenses with passengers.

The AAIB report said the basis on which Sala was being carried on N264DB "has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of 'cost sharing'".

Cost sharing on private flights is allowed in the UK and the report said Mr Ibbotson, of Crowle, North Lincolnshire, had operated these type of flights before.

However, the report added that because the aircraft was US-registered, it was subject to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, which meant he could only make the flight legally if he was paying half the operating expenses.

In addition, Mr Ibbotson needed a "bona fide purpose" for making the flight - also known in aviation as "common purpose" - and must dictate when the flight should leave, the report added.

Image copyright Getty Images/David Ibbotson Image caption Emiliano Sala (left) was on board a plane being flown by pilot David Ibbotson

It is understood the flight's departure was delayed to allow Sala to say goodbye to his Nantes teammates before he left.

The report said that, on the basis of a cost-sharing flight, it "must not be made for the purpose of merely transporting the passenger".

This is one area the AAIB said needed further investigation.

What else does the report say?

Image copyright AAIB Image caption The AAIB released this photograph of the wreckage of the Piper Malibu

The AAIB said the plane was found in three parts on the seabed after a submersible with cameras was sent underwater.

It was "extensively damaged" and the wreckage was held together by electrical and flying control cables, while the engine was disconnected from the cockpit area.

The AAIB said it had been unable to establish how much flying Mr Ibbotson had done recently, as his pilot's licence and logbook had been lost.

Investigators would normally look to establish how many hours a pilot had flown in the preceding 28 and 90 days before a crash.

Mr Ibbotson had approximately 3,700 flying hours and held a private pilot's licence in the UK and US.

What are the next steps?

Air accident investigators will continue to look at all "operational, technical, organisational and human factors" which might have contributed to the crash.

One focus will be further analysis of the radar information to try and understand the final moments of the flight.

Investigators will analyse video from the wreckage in a bid to determine how the aircraft entered the sea.

An AAIB spokesman said: "We have gathered evidence from radar, weather reports, video of the aircraft on the seabed and interviews with witnesses.

"Some operational aspects are yet to be determined, such as the validity of the pilot's licence and ratings.

"Our priority now is to go through the evidence, much of which is extensive and complex, so we can piece together what happened between the aircraft being lost from radar and it coming to rest on the sea bed.

"This will help us understand the potential causes of the accident."

A Cardiff City spokesman said: "We welcome further investigation into the accident, which is required to determine precisely what happened, and to ensure changes are made so that this situation never happens again."

The remit of the AAIB, which is a branch of the Department for Transport, is to conduct safety investigations into the cause of aviation accidents without apportioning blame or liability.</s>An investigation into the plane crash which killed footballer Emiliano Sala will focus on the validity of the pilot’s licence.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) named “regulatory requirements” as one of four areas in which further work will be carried out.

Its interim report noted that the type of licence held by the pilot meant he could only fly passengers in the European Union on a cost sharing basis, rather than for commercial flights.

Pilots with his licence “must have a bona fide purpose for making the flight”, according to the AAIB.

Argentinian footballer Sala had just signed for Cardiff City from French club Nantes for £15 million when the plane crashed into the Channel on January 21.

He was the only passenger on board the Piper Malibu aircraft flying from Nantes to the Welsh capital.

His body was recovered on February 6 but pilot David Ibbotson, 59, of Crowle, Lincolnshire, has not been located.

Mr Ibbotson’s family hope a fresh search for his body will begin this week after setting up an online fundraising campaign which has reached £250,000.

The aircraft remains underwater off the coast of Guernsey after an attempt to recover it was hampered by bad weather.</s>The pilot of the plane that crashed with Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala on board did not have a licence for commercial flights, investigators say.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch confirmed David Ibbotson held a private pilot's licence, which meant he could not carry passengers for reward.

Its interim report said he could only fly passengers in the European Union on a cost-sharing basis.

It has yet to establish if this was he case with Sala.

The validity of 59-year-old Mr Ibbotson's licence at the time of the 21 January crash will form part of the AAIB's investigations going forward.
• Who owned the plane Sala died in?

Sala was found in the wreckage of the Piper Malibu N264DB, which was found on the seabed 13 days after it vanished over the English Channel near Guernsey.

He had completed his transfer to Premier League side Cardiff from French club Nantes just two days earlier - for a club record fee of £15m - and had returned to France to say goodbye to his former teammates.

As flying is an expensive pastime, cost sharing allows pilots to notch up their flying hours while sharing the cost of fuel, landing fees and other expenses with passengers.

The AAIB report said the basis on which Sala was being carried on N264DB "has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of 'cost sharing'".

Cost sharing on private flights is allowed in the UK and the report said Mr Ibbotson, of Crowle, North Lincolnshire, had operated these type of flights before.

However, the report added that because the aircraft was US-registered, it was subject to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, which meant he could only make the flight legally if he was paying half the operating expenses.

In addition, Mr Ibbotson needed a "bona fide purpose" for making the flight - also known in aviation as "common purpose" - and must dictate when the flight should leave, the report added.

It is understood the flight's departure was delayed to allow Sala to say goodbye to his Nantes teammates before he left.

The report said that, on the basis of a cost-sharing flight, it "must not be made for the purpose of merely transporting the passenger".

This is one area the AAIB said needed further investigation.

What else does the report say?

The AAIB said the plane was found in three parts on the seabed after a submersible with cameras was sent underwater.

It was "extensively damaged" and the wreckage was held together by electrical and flying control cables, while the engine was disconnected from the cockpit area.

The AAIB said it had been unable to establish how much flying pilot Mr Ibbotson had done recently, as his pilot's licence and logbook had been lost.

Investigators would normally look to establish how many hours a pilot had flown in the preceding 28 and 90 days before a crash.

Mr Ibbotson had approximately 3,700 flying hours and held a private pilot's licence in the UK and US.</s>An investigation into the plane crash which killed footballer Emiliano Sala will focus on the validity of the pilot’s licence.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) named “regulatory requirements” as one of four areas in which it will carry out further work before publishing its final report.

Its interim report noted that the type of licence held by pilot David Ibbotson meant he could only fly passengers in the European Union on a cost-sharing basis, rather than for commercial flights.

Pilots with his licence “must have a bona fide purpose for making the flight”, according to the AAIB.

Argentinian footballer Sala signed for Cardiff City from French club Nantes for £15 million on January 18.

Mr Ibbotson, 59, of Crowle, Lincolnshire flew Sala from Cardiff to Nantes the following day, with the return flight – which crashed in the Channel – on January 21.

The AAIB stated that the Piper Malibu aircraft took off at 7.15pm GMT and flew on its planned route at an altitude of 5,500 feet until it was around 13 nautical miles south of Guernsey at 8.02pm.

At that point, the pilot requested permission from air traffic control to fly at a lower level to maintain visibility.

He was cleared by the controller to fly at 5,000 feet, and when asked if a further descent was required, Mr Ibbotson responded: “Negative. Just avoided a patch there but back on heading 5,000 feet.”

The last radio communication received from the aircraft was at 8.12pm when the pilot asked for and was granted permission to reduce altitude again.

Radar readings show the aircraft turned left and right, descended gradually and climbed rapidly in the minutes before it crashed at 8.16pm.

The AAIB stated that a band of showers, some heavy, passed through the area flown by the plane around the time of the crash.

Sala’s body was recovered on February 6 but Mr Ibbotson has not been located.

The latter’s family hope a fresh search for his body will begin this week after setting up an online fundraising campaign which has reached £250,000.

The aircraft remains underwater off the coast of Guernsey after an attempt to recover it was hampered by bad weather.</s>Cardiff City have outlined "grave concerns" about pilot David Ibbotson's licence and the legality of the flight that carried Emiliano Sala following an interim Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report.

Ibbotson and Sala were travelling from Nantes to Cardiff on board a Piper Malibu aircraft when it disappeared on January 21.

Sala's body was later recovered from the plane wreckage in the English Channel with the help of specialist contractors, he died from head and trunk injuries. Ibbotson's body has yet to be found.

The AAIB is investigating the circumstances surrounding the flight and released an interim report on Monday, detailing its focus.

A summary found that the plane, registered in the United States, could not be used for commercial purposes without prior permission. There was no evidence that permission had been sought, although it was unclear if the flight was alternatively being operated on a cost-sharing basis.

The AAIB also said Ibbotson's "logbook and licence were not recovered from the aircraft, and the ratings on his licences and their validity dates have not yet been established".

With a full report still set to follow, Cardiff responded with a statement.

"The club acknowledges the publication today by the AAIB of their special bulletin on the loss of the Piper Malibu aircraft carrying Emiliano Sala," it read.

"We have grave concerns that questions still remain over the validity of the pilot's licence and rating to undertake such a journey, as identified in the bulletin.

"We are also concerned to discover that the trip involved an aircraft which did not conform to either UK CAA or US FAA requirements for commercial activity and therefore may have been operating unlawfully.

"We welcome further investigation into the accident, which is required to determine precisely what happened, and to ensure changes are made so that this situation never happens again."

Cardiff signed striker Sala from Nantes in a club-record deal in January.</s>Cardiff City expressed "grave concerns" over the Emiliano Sala crash report after investigators confirmed neither the pilot nor the single-engined aircraft were licensed for commercial use.

The club, which is considering a negligence claim over the circumstances surrounding the death, said findings by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch suggest the trip may been "unlawful".

The AAIB report confirms the mystery owner of the plane made no attempts to apply to either American or British authorities for commercial use, while Dave Ibbotson, the part-time gas engineers who was at the controls of the Piper Malibu on Jan 21, had only a private licence.

Cardiff said in a statement that they have "grave concerns that questions still remain over the validity of the pilot’s licence and rating to undertake such a journey, as identified in the bulletin".

Investigators are still establishing whether the doomed flight took place on a "cost sharing" basis, which does not breach Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guidelines. However, a club spokesman added: "We are also concerned to discover that the trip involved an aircraft which did not conform to either UK CAA or US FAA requirements for commercial activity and therefore may have been operating unlawfully. We welcome further investigation into the accident, which is required to determine precisely what happened, and to ensure changes are made so that this situation never happens again."</s>LONDON, United Kingdom, Feb 25 – The plane carrying footballer Emiliano Sala that crashed in the Channel last month did not have a commercial licence, British investigators said Monday.

But the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the journey would have been allowed as a “private” flight in which costs are shared between pilot and passenger.

“The basis on which the passenger was being carried on N264DB has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of cost sharing,” the AAIB said in an interim report.

Pilot David Ibbotson, 59, was flying 28-year-old Argentine striker Sala to his new Premier League club Cardiff City from his previous side in Nantes in France on January 21 when the accident happened.

Football agent Mark McKay had a mandate from Nantes to negotiate the transfer of the professional contract between the two clubs.

Nantes has said that the mandate had expired by the time Sala boarded the flight as he had already signed for Cardiff City.

Speaking to The Times newspaper Willie McKay, Mark McKay’s father, has said that his son arranged the flight, just as he had organised several flights for brokers of the deal in previous weeks.

The plane, a Piper PA-46 Malibu from 1984, was registered in the US, according to the report.

The investigators also said that since the pilot’s logbook and licence were not recovered, it was unclear whether Ibbotson was authorised to fly at night.

The AAIB said the plane took off from Nantes Airport at 1915 GMT.

At 1958 GMT, Jersey air traffic control asked the pilot if the plane’s altimeter was working because the radar indicated it was flying lower than it should have been.

The weather radar at the time showed “a band of showers, some heavy, passing through the area”.

Four minutes later the pilot requested clearance to descend.

The controller asked if the plane required another descent to which the pilot responded: “Negative, just avoided a patch there, but back on heading five thousand feet.”

At 2012 GMT, Ibbotson did request a further descent.

The plane then descended twice and ascended twice before disappearing from the radar.

The wreckage was found on the seabed at a depth of approximately 68 metres, the report said, as investigators released fresh pictures of the plane.

“The aircraft was extensively damaged, and the main body of the aircraft was in three parts held together by electrical and flying control cables,” it said.

“The engine had disconnected from the cockpit areas, and the rear section of the fuselage had broken away from the forward section adjacent to the trailing edge of the wing.”

Sala’s body was recovered from the wreckage. Ibbotson has never been found, although his family are hoping a crowdfunding campaign will help raise funds for an underwater search.

The report said two seat cushions, an arm rest and what may have been a piece of fuselage washed up on the French coast, while a seat cushion was found on Jersey.

The aircraft was not fitted with black box data and voice recorders and was not required to be.

Sala’s body was recovered from the submerged wreckage on February 7.</s>One part of the wreckage was the windscreen and cockpit area

Investigations into the flight on which Emiliano Sala died will focus on the validity of the pilot's licence.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch's (AAIB) preliminary report into the crash in the Channel says David Ibbotson could only fly passengers in the European Union on a cost-sharing basis, rather than for commercial flights.

Pilots with his licence "must have a bona fide purpose for making the flight", according to the AAIB.

It also says the plane was not licenced to fly commercially. It states that nobody "had applied to the FAA (US Federal Aviation Administration) or the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) to operate the aircraft for commercial reasons.

"The CAA advised the AAIB that they had no record of an application for permission to operate the aircraft commercially."

The report includes previously unseen pictures of the underwater wreckage of the plane, detailing how the Piper Malibu aircraft was "destroyed" and was found smashed into three parts on the sea bed.

The parts were held together by electrical and flying control cables. The engine had disconnected from the cockpit area and parts of both wings, the tail and the fin were missing.

Investigators also describe how the plane did not stick to a straight flight path.

Around 15 seconds before the fatal crash the plane plunged at a rate of 7,000ft (2133m) per minute - equivalent to around 90mph (144km).

The AAIB said it had been unable to establish how much flying Mr Ibbotson, 59, had done recently, as his pilot's licence and logbook had been lost.

Sala, 28, died when the plane crashed near Alderney on 21 January as he travelled from Nantes to Cardiff, having joined the Premier League club Cardiff City for £15m days earlier.

A post-mortem examination found the Argentinian died from head and chest injuries and the striker's funeral took place in his home country earlier this month.

The report says the wreckage was found about 30m (98ft) from the single-engine light aircraft's last secondary radar contact, recorded by the radar at Guernsey at 8:16pm.

That was about four minutes after it was last in radio contact at 8:12pm.

The report reveals that in the last 15 minutes, Mr Ibbotson descended four times, telling air traffic control he wanted to maintain visibility.

In his last communication, air traffic controllers asked whether he needed to descend again. "Negative, just avoided a patch there, but back on heading five thousand feet," he answered.

A private search for Mr Ibbotson's body, which is still missing, is expected to start soon.

Isolated showers were forecast for Guernsey at the time the plane crashed, and rain was expected to come into the area from the northwest overnight.

The aircraft was built in 1984 and had a valid certificate of registration, due to expire in 2021.

Its last significant maintenance was an annual 100-hour check on 30 November 2018, after which it was signed off back into service.</s>This still made from video provided by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch showing the wreckage of the plane which crashed into the Channel on Jan. 21, 2019 killing footballer Emiliano Sala. Air accident investigators say on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019 that the plane carrying soccer player Emiliano Sala was not licensed for commercial use by authorities. But in the initial crash report investigators are yet to determine whether it could be classified a private flight if costs were being shared, so commercial flight regulations were not applicable. (AAIB via AP)

LONDON – A preliminary report into the air crash which cost Emiliano Sala his life has raised questions about whether the pilot was legally licensed to carry the player, which could encourage Cardiff City to continue withholding payment of the £15 million transfer fee to Nantes. An experienced football administrator at the top of the English game told Sportsmail that if the flight was not fully licensed to fly Sala, then Cardiff’s insurance policy might be invalid.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch report says the Piper Malibu aircraft was not licensed for commercial use.

Pilot Dave Ibbotson, who is still missing after the crash, was entitled to transport the player on a private basis, but would have needed to pay half the operating costs of the flight, under aviation rules on carrying passengers.

On Monday night, Cardiff issued a statement making it clear they view the AAIB report as a source of concern.

The club said: “We have grave concerns that questions remain over the validity of the pilot’s licence and rating to undertake such a journey.

“We are also concerned to discover that the trip involved an aircraft which... may have been operating unlawfully.”</s>Sala plane did not have commercial licence: investigators

But the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the journey would have been allowed as a "private" flight in which costs are shared between pilot and passenger.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom issues an interim report revealing the pilot, David Ibbotson, held only a private pilots licence and could not transport paying passengers within the European Union. Ibbotson and Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala both died in the accident. Cardiff City FC announce "grave concerns" over Ibbotson's licence.