Ex-Nants striker Emiliano Sala lost his life on January 21, 2019, after a flight carrying him from France to Wales crashed along the way. The organizer of said flight, David Henderson, has now been found guilty of endangering the safety of an aircraft.
A jury of seven men and five women has convicted Henderson – the businessman who organized the fatal flight that crashed killing the Argentinian forward and pilot David Ibbotson – for endangering the safety of any aircraft.
The jury declared Henderson guilty by a major verdict of 10 to 2. He is expected to be sentenced for the same – and one other unrelated charge – on November 12 for a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.
It was revealed that Henderson allowed Ibbotson to fly the aircraft despite several red flags. To begin with, Ibbotson did not hold a commercial pilot’s license or the clearance to fly at night.
Furthermore, his rating to fly Piper Malibu – the single-engine aircraft which went down – had expired, and its owner, Fay Keely, had asked Henderson not to let Ibbotson commandeer the aircraft after she was contacted by the Civil Aviation Authority over two airspace infringements.
In addition to Henderson’s negligence, the Jury was also told how the businessman had texted multiple people after the plane went down, asking them not to talk about it or risk opening a “can of worms”.
Sala lost his life on the flight organized by Henderson that crashed into the English Channel on its way to Cardiff. The Argentine had completed a transfer to Premier League outfit Cardiff City days earlier but had returned to Nantes to settle personal matters.
The aircraft carrying the footballer and pilot, Ibbotson, disappeared off the English Channel on October 21, 2019, following which an area-wise search was conducted.
After the initial searches yielded no results, the police called off the expedition on January 24. Members of the football fraternity called for the search to be resumed, along with Sala’s family, and the underwater search resumed on February 3. Sala’s body was recovered four days later, identified through fingerprints.
