New developments in search for Cardiff striker Sala

Late last month we covered the disappearance of new Cardiff City signing Emiliano Sala, who went missing after his plane went down near the Channel Islands.

Guernsey Police ordered a search when it was announced that the player and pilot were on board the plane. Then after a couple of days of searching on the 24th of January, it was called off with the harbour master saying the chances of survival were “extremely remote”.

It was announced on the 28th of January that the search would now be privately funded, with Sala’s family and people from throughout the footballing world contributing to the cause.

After the announcement of the search being privately funded the total raised to find the former Nantes player and the pilot David Ibbotson rose to over €300,000 after the total was allowed to increase from the initial total of €150,000.

Many people have got involved with donating to the cause including footballers Ilkay Gundogan, and PSG players Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappé, the latter giving a sum of €30,000.

A huge breakthrough came last week when cushions were found on France’s Cotentin Peninsula. The items which were found on a beach near Surtainville, were believed to have been from the aircraft giving hope to the families of the missing people.

Last Sunday the Piper Malibu plane was sighted on the seabed not far from Guernsey and the following day it emerged that shipwreck hunter David Mearns, the head of the search, found what looked like a body in the wreckage.

Since Monday the plan has been to try and retrieve the body and the plane to determine who out of the two missing people was trapped, giving closure for one family but causing despair to another.

With the mission determined ‘The Air Accident Investigation Branch’ are now trying to find the most logical way of retrieving the plane which is 67m (220ft) below water.

The process of recovering the body is the first part of the mission but has proved tricky as the specialist equipment being used can only be deployed when there is “slack water” which means the tide needs to be turning.

The AAIB are using a vessel called ‘The Geo Ocean III’ along with other remotely operated underwater vehicles, the understanding being the correct path has been developed but the process of removing the body from the plane will take a long period of time.

The Geo Ocean III vessel has winching equipment and a number of floodlights on board which will make working throughout the day easier as there will be light no matter the time of day.

A spokesperson from the AAIB gave the latest on what the group are doing:

“We are attempting to recovery the body. If we are successful, we will consider the feasibility of recovering the aircraft wreckage.”

“Strong tidal conditions mean we can only use the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for limited periods each day and this will mean that progress is slow.

“Regardless of the results, we will not be making a further statement until the families have been informed.”

It is expected in the following days that the body will at least be recovered though it’s still not known the possibility of raising the aircraft to determine what went wrong and caused this tragedy.