David Henderson, 67, Risk up to five years in imprudence prison or negligence that could have endangered the device, which crashed off the Wales in 2019.
Le Monde with AFP
The man who has organized the flight that crashed, with the Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala and his David Ibbotson pilot, in 2019, was found guilty of endangering the apparatus by a court. Wales.
David Henderson, 67, was judged, Thursday, October 28, for imprudence or negligence likely to have endangered the device. It risks up to five years in prison, as well as an additional two years for transporting a passenger without a valid authorization, charge for which he pleaded guilty. The sentence must be pronounced on November 12th.
Emiliano Sala, 28, traveled to join the Cardiff City Club, where he had just been transferred from FC Nantes for 17 million euros. The small private plane carried it, obtained by this intermediary, had damaged in the Channel on January 21, 2019. The player’s body, whose disappearance had moved the world of football, had been found in the carcass of the device. , more than two weeks after the accident, 67 meters deep. His remains had been repatriate in Argentina in 2019. The 59-year-old pilot body was not found.
Too high speed
In its final report, published in March 2020, the British Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) considered that the pilot has lost control of the device, a Piper PA-46 Malibu, during a maneuver made. At too high speed, “probably” destined to avoid bad weather to fly to sight. The aircraft was launched at a speed of 270 miles per hour (435 km / h) at the time of the impact with the water, according to the AAIB, excluding any hope of survival.
Investigators also believe that the pilot, “probably” been intoxicated with carbon monoxide by the engine exhaust system. The investigators also pointed out that the flight had not been carried out under conditions in accordance with the rules that apply for commercial flights. The pilot has sailed at night, at night, in difficult weather while he did not have the license to drive this type of airplane or to fly at night, they raised.
The flight was chartered by the British driver David Henderson, at the request of the intermediary Willie McKay and his son Mark, the agent mandated by Nantes to carry out the transfer of sala.