Emiliano Sala crash pilot ‘dropped out of commercial flying school’ years before Channel death smash
The claim comes after investigators confirmed neither the pilot nor the light aircraft were licensed to carry paying passengers
EMILIANO Sala’s pilot dropped out of training for his commercial pilot's licence before it was completed, it’s claimed.
David Ibbotson was not licensed to carry paying passengers and some speculate the flight was unlawful because he wasn't fully trained.
Mr Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, was carrying Cardiff City's £15m record signing to the city from former club Nantes on a Piper PA-46 Malibu when it crash-landed on January 21.
But his pilot's licence and logbook were lost in the crash.
What is known is that he studied for his commercial pilot's licence (CPL) at Cranfield Aviation Training School in Luton.
He started the course in December 2012 — yet dropped out in July 2014 after failing to finish his theoretical training, it's claimed.
The this means he was not licensed to carry paying passengers.
'TRAINING INCOMPLETE'
Dr Stuart E Smith, head of training for the school, told the BBC the pilot contacted him in 2016 about resuming training.
But this never happened.
Dr Smith said: “It is common for middle-aged private pilots to undertake the CPL theoretical knowledge course so that they may then complete CPL flight training and be able to earn money as a pilot or flight instructor.”
Sala’s body was recovered from the plane wreckage in the English Channel on February 6.
Dad-of-three Mr Ibbotson is still missing.
A fresh search started this week after Mr Ibbotson's family raised £250,000 in an online campaign.
It is common for middle-aged private pilots to undertake the CPL theoretical knowledge course so that they may then complete CPL flight training and be able to earn money as a pilot or flight instructor
Doctor Stuart E Smith
The doomed plane descended sharply four times in 15 minutes amid poor visibility, an interim report said.
Accident investigators also confirmed that neither the pilot nor the light aircraft he was flying were licensed to carry paying passengers when the crash happened on the evening of January 21.
Ibbotson told pals he was feeling "a bit rusty" just days before the doomed aircraft crashed.
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Meanwhile on the fateful flight the footie ace sent WhatsApp messages to his friends as the aircraft lurched in rough conditions, saying the plane “looks like it’s going to fall apart”.
He wrote: "Boys, I'm here on top of the plane that looks like it's about to fall apart. And I'm going to Cardiff, crazy, tomorrow we already started. In the afternoon we started to train, boys, in my new team.”
Sala later sent another message saying: “If you do not have any more news from in an hour and a half, I don’t know if they need to send someone to find me...I am getting scared!”
The aircraft lurched violently when Ibbotson told air traffic controllers he was struggling with visibility before plunging at about 80mph in the moments before hitting the water.
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