Sala plane shock
Emiliano Sala was flying on a type of plane that has crashed 160 times before
Aviation expert Alastair Rosenschein has revealed the Piper Malibu has an awful track record.
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EMILIANO SALA was flying on a model of plane that's crashed 160 times, it can be revealed.
The £15million forward, 28, was offered a flight from bosses at his new club but decided to make his own travel arrangements from former club Nantes.
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Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman said they were "still praying" for positive news but are devastated after Sala's plane disappeared on Monday night.
Sala was due to join his teammates in South Wales yesterday morning for training but never arrived after his 460-mile journey from Nantes to Cardiff Airport.
The plane disappeared over the Channel Islands and search teams have found no sign of a wreckage or survivors.
But Dalman said Sala booked the flight on the Piper Malibu plane - which experts described as "risky" - not the club.
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Dalman said: "We spoke to the player and asked him if he wanted us to make arrangements for his flight which, quite frankly, would have been commercial.
"He declined and made his own arrangements. I can't tell you who arranged the flight because I don't know at this stage - but it certainly wasn't Cardiff City."
Aviation expert and former pilot Alastair Rosenschein said Sala shouldn't have been making the journey.
Rosenchein added the Piper Malibu had a terrible track record of crashing - with 160 serious crashes, 55 of which were fatal.
Final haunting audio message sent by Emiliano Sala during flight reveals he was 'scared' moments before aircraft lost contact
MORE EMILIANO SALA STORIES
Emiliano Sala’s emotional father Horacio speaks from his home in Argentina on his son’s disappearance
He said: "It's very surprising that they should ask to descend at night over water in a single engine aircraft.
"It's already a fairly risky crossing to do in a single engine aircraft, especially in winter and definitely at night. There are icing problems too.
"It's a strange thing to do though to go and fly over water with one engine at night in winter because if your engine goes you're going in the water.
"When I looked it up it has had over 160 serious crashes that's a fairly large number - 55 of them were fatal accidents.
"That's a large number for an aircraft that does not have such a large production number.
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"Since 2000, there have been 24 fatal crashes.
"One can't compare what we call general aviation or light aircraft flying with commercial flying which is extremely safe and accidents are very rare."
It can also be revealed Sala's plane took FOUR attempts to take off before it vanished.
Meanwhile, reports in Argentina have claimed Sala sent terrified messages from the plane DURING the flight.
Claims have revealed he sent a voice message on WhatsApp, saying: “I'm really scared. I'm on a plane that looks like it's going to fall apart.”
Emiliano Sala’s heartbroken mum breaks down as she reveals she spoke to him about his dream move to Cardiff City the night before his plane went missing
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