Air Crash Investigation S24E09 Lost Star Footballer

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Air Crash Investigation Series S24E09 Lost Star Footballer

Transcript

00:00Above the English Channel, a Piper Malibu suddenly disappears from radar.

00:07Where did you go?

00:09November 264, Delta Bravo, do you read?

00:12Search teams find no trace of the plane or its high-profile passenger.

00:18Tonight, Emiliano Sala is missing.

00:21This began as a small general aviation accident and it very quickly became of worldwide interest.

00:28As recovery crews search the sea, the pilot's background is investigated.

00:33He didn't have a full instrument rating.

00:35That rang a long bell for me.

00:37But when they locate the plane, theories change.

00:42Look at the bending of the splice joint.

00:44The plane broke up before it hit the water.

00:47So now what we had to establish was, why did the aircraft break up in flight?

00:58A chartered Piper Malibu is moments from take-off.

01:17Pilot David Ibbotson prepares the plane for departure from Nantes Airport in France.

01:27November 264, Delta Bravo, ready for take-off.

01:32Ibbotson has a VIP on board.

01:35Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala.

01:38Hello brothers, how are you guys?

01:44I'm going to go to Cardiff, crazy.

01:48Yes, we'll start training tomorrow, guys.

01:51In my new team.

01:53The star striker is leaving Nantes for good.

01:59He's moving up to the Premier League to play for Cardiff City Football Club for 17 million euros.

02:06This was the move up to one of the world's richest leagues seen around the globe.

02:12It would have propelled him to absolute superstardom.

02:15It's a two-hour flight from Nantes to Cardiff, Wales, crossing over the English Channel.

02:26This is Emiliano Sala's second flight with Ibbotson.

02:29Two days earlier, he flew back from Cardiff, where he signed his new contract.

02:34Emiliano wanted to go back to Nantes to be able to say proper goodbyes to his teammates, to his friends.

02:41He left in the middle of the night and hadn't really told them that he would be signing for Cardiff City.

02:46November 264, Delta Bravo, requesting clearance to climb to flight level 55.

02:52November 264, Delta Bravo, you are cleared to flight level 55.

02:57The Piper Malibu can carry five passengers, but tonight Emiliano Sala is travelling alone.

03:04Are you warm enough?

03:07Sorry?

03:09Are you warm?

03:11I'm cold.

03:17It's a comfortable aircraft.

03:19It will cruise at a reasonable speed.

03:21It's quite large.

03:22It's quite fast for a light aircraft.

03:24The plane climbs towards a cruising altitude of 5,500 feet.

03:30It would have been relatively easy to conduct this flight back from Nantes to Cardiff in clear weather.

03:36As they approach the Channel Islands, the weather changes.

03:42Rain clouds loom on the horizon.

03:48The pilot's visibility would have deteriorated as he approached the cloud conditions over the Channel Islands.

03:54November 264, Delta Bravo.

03:58With conditions worsening, David Ibbotson contacts air traffic control.

04:02Requesting clearance to descend to maintain VMC.

04:06November 264, Delta Bravo, you are cleared to flight level 50.

04:11Just advise if you need further descent.

04:14November 264, Delta Bravo.

04:16Thank you, sir.

04:17Ibbotson takes the Piper lower to avoid the bad weather.

04:22The cloud layers would have obscured what little light was available from the islands of Jersey and Guernsey.

04:29And the forward visibility would have been such that the horizon would have been indistinct and difficult to make out.

04:38Are you good back there?

04:46November 264, Delta Bravo.

04:48Requesting further descent to maintain VMC.

04:51But ten minutes later, Ibbotson still hasn't been able to clear the clouds.

04:57Clear to descend at your discretion.

05:00Roger.

05:06The Piper Malibu is one hour from Cardiff.

05:12But as the controller follows the plane's progress, it disappears from radar.

05:17November 264, Delta Bravo.

05:22How are you making out there?

05:24Where did you go?

05:28November 264, Delta Bravo.

05:30Do you read?

05:40Yes, I've got a Piper Malibu missing from radar, near the Channel Islands, north of Guernsey.

05:47Registration number is November 264, Delta Bravo.

05:53News of the missing Piper spreads quickly.

05:57Word starts to emerge that a Piper Malibu has gone down in the Channel.

06:02And fairly soon afterwards, sports journalists start saying,

06:07wasn't Emiliano Sala due to travel to Cardiff the same night?

06:10An air and sea search gets underway for a plane that disappeared over the English Channel.

06:17Search and rescue teams launch an expansive search of the Channel overnight and into the next morning.

06:22But the plane remains lost.

06:28Good morning.

06:30Hello.

06:32Meanwhile, a team from Britain's AAIB, or Air Accidents Investigation Branch, is assigned to the case.

06:38Radar data has come in. Check your inbox.

06:45Great, I'll bring it up.

06:47They wonder exactly where the Piper went down in the English Channel.

06:51We contacted ATC and we asked for the radar information.

06:56And we used that radar information that we were able to put together to provide a track of the aircraft.

07:02Looks like the last known radar hit is right here.

07:08Right here. So it should be close to here.

07:15Investigators begin to zero in on a search area north-northwest of the island of Guernsey.

07:22These are deep waters. It's too deep for divers.

07:27And strong currents. I'll get the coordinates to the Marine team.

07:31We first started looking at the radar information and trying to turn that into a location in the sea.

07:39Our Marine advisers looked at tides and that gave us a seabed location which we had reasonably good confidence in.

07:46While search and rescue teams begin more targeted efforts, the world gets the news everyone feared.

07:54Emiliano Salah was on board.

07:57French police confirmed to news outlets that Emiliano Salah was on the missing Piper Malibu.

08:06Given the temperature of the water and the weather conditions, it was very rough last night.

08:11Their chances of survival are very, very slim.

08:15In Nunnt, more affection for a much loved player.

08:19We ask you to stand with us, to be united, and to respect the family. They refuse to grieve and continue to believe.

08:29That's great. Everything you can find. Okay, thank you.

08:40I've got a team working on securing any mobile messages sent by the pilot or seller.

08:45Good idea. Okay.

08:47As the search continues, investigators look for any clues as to why the Piper Malibu went missing.

08:55You see, he deviates a bit to the right as he approaches Guernsey, but he's pretty much right back on course not long after.

09:06And the altitude? Hold steady at 5,000 feet during that time. Nothing too unusual.

09:12Right. But zoom in towards the end of the flight.

09:17Right.

09:24Check out those turns.

09:27They discover the plane made a wide turn to the right three minutes before it disappeared, followed by a hard left.

09:35Look at that final right turn.

09:39It's almost 180 degrees.

09:46The Piper then made a sharp right turn seconds before vanishing from radar.

09:53So we could see from the radar track that things began to go very strangely.

09:57There was a lot of turning, both left and right, and it culminated in a very sharp turn to the right.

10:02Here comes the A.

10:03The A.

10:04The A.

10:05The B.

10:06These buenas you all are.

10:07It's almost right here.

10:08Here comes with the link to the link to the left.

10:09Now here is a link to the link to the link to the right.

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