Cardiff City record signing Emiliano Sala has been confirmed as missing on a small aircraft flying near the Channel Islands.
Local police announced that there had been “no trace” of the missing aircraft.
The Piper Malibu that Sala was a passenger on left Nantes Atlantique Airport at 19:15 last night and was at 5,000 ft before the pilot contacted air traffic control to request descent. There has been no contact since it was lost at 2,300 ft.
A rescue mission started at 8:00 AM this morning with a helicopter from Air Search 1 and two from HM Coastguard on the lookout as they try to figure out what happened and where the two missing people are.
The plane was expected to land in England following the attacker saying his final goodbyes to his FC Nantes team-mates over in France.
As shown Sala’s last post was his farewell message to his former side:
La ultima ❤️ ciao @FCNantes ???? pic.twitter.com/SV1dNHbYYH
— Emiliano Sala (@EmilianoSala1) January 21, 2019
French news agency AFP have been reporting that they have been informed by police sources that the 28-year-old was on board, causing concern amongst the footballing community with many fearing the worst.
There is hope that the Argentine footballer will turn up safe with many praying that this disaster doesn’t have the same outcome as the Chapecoense plane crash that happened in November 2016.
Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has also told the Mirror:
“We are very concerned by the latest news that a light aircraft lost contact over the Channel last night.”
The striker was expected to be back in training today after missing the cut off time to feature in the Bluebirds 3-0 defeat to relegation rivals Newcastle United.