Above the English Channel, a Piper Malibu
suddenly disappears from radar.
Where did you go? November264 Del Bravo,
do you read? Search teams find no trace of
the plane or its high profile passenger.
Tonight Emiliano Sala is missing.
This began as a small general aviation
accident and it very quickly became of
worldwide interest. As recovery crews
search the sea, the pilot's background is
investigated. He didn't have a full
instrument rating and that rang along
bells for me. But when they locate the
plane, theories change. Look at
the bending of the splice joint. The plane
broke up before it hit the water. So now
what we had to establish was why did the
aircraft break up in flight?
A chartered Piper Malibu is moments from
takeoff. Pilot David Ibotson
prepares the plane for departure from Nant
airport in France. November 180064 Del
Bravo ready for take off. Ibtson has
a VIP on board. Argentinian footballer
Emiliano Sala.
Omanitosand down Locito Locoss
Carif Loc see Muos
Knowipo.
The star striker is leaving Nantes for
good. He's moving up to the Premier League
to play for Cardiff City football club for
17 million euros. This was the move up
to one of the world's richest leagues seen
around the globe. It would have propelled
him to absolute superstardom.
It's a two hour flight from Nantes to
Cardiff, Wales crossing over the English
Channel. This is Emilian
O Sala's second flight with Ibbotson. Two
days earlier he flew back from Cardiff
where he signed his new contract.
Emiliano wanted to go back to Nantes to be
able to say proper goodbyes to his
teammates, to his friends. He left in the
middle of the night and hadn't really told
them that he would be signing for Cardiff
City. November 264Delta Bravo requesting
clearance to climb to fly level five five.
November 264Delta Bravo, you are clearly
flight level five five. The Piper Malibu
can carry five passengers. But tonight
Emiliano Sala is traveling alone.
Are you warm enough? Sorry?
Are you warm? Thank go for you.
It's a comfortion of aircraft. It will
cruise at a reasonable speed. It's quite
large, it's quite fast for a light
aircraft. The plane climbs towards a
cruising altitude of 5,500ft.
It would been relatively easy to conduct
this flight back from Nantes to Califf in
clear weather. As they approach the
Channel Islands, the weather changes.
Rain clouds loom on the horizon.
The pilot's visibility would have
deteriorated as he approached the cloud
conditions over the Channel Islands.
November 1800 64delt Bravo with conditions
Worsening. David Ibbotson contacts air
traffic control, requesting clearance to
Descend to maintain VMC. November 20
hundred 64 Delta Bravo, you are cleared to
flight level 5 0. Just buys if you need
further descentT. November 20 hundred 64
Delta Bravo. Thank you, sir.
Ibbertson takes the Piper lower to avoid
the bad weather. The cloud layers would
have obscured what little light was
available from the islands of Jersey and
Guernsey. And the forward visibility would
have been such that the horizon would have
been indistinct and difficult to make out.
Are you good back there?
November 26four Delta Bravo, requesting
further dissent to maintain VMC. But 10
minutes later, Ibtson still hasn't been
able to clear the clouds. Clear to descend
at your discretion. Roger.
The Piper Malibu is one hour from Cardiff,
but as the controller follows the plane's
progress, it disappears from Radar.
November264Delta Bravo, how are you making
out there? Where did you go?
November264delt Bravo, do you read?
Yes, I've got a Hyper Malibu missing from
radar near the Channel Islands north of
Guernsey. Registration number is November
20064, Delta Bravo.
News of the missing Piper spreads quickly.
Word starts to emerge that a Piper Malibu
has gone down in the Channel. And fairly
soon afterwards, sports journalists start
saying, wasn't Emiliano Salad due to
travel to Cardiff? The same night,
an air and sea search gets underway for a
plane that disappeared over the English
Channel. Search and rescue teams launch an
expansive search of the Channel overnight
and into the next morning, but the plane
remains lost.
Good morning. Hello. Meanwhile,
a team from Britain's aib, or Air
Accidents Investigation Branch, is
assigned to the case. Radar data
has come in. Check your inbox.
Great, I'll bring it up. They wonder
exactly where the Piper went down in the
English Channel. We contacted ATC and
we asked for the radar information. And we
used that radar information, were able to
put together to provide a track of the
aircraft. Looks like the last
known radar hit is right here,
so it should be close
to here. Investigators begin to zero
in on a search area north northwest of the
island of Guernsey. These are deep waters,
too deep for divers and strong currents.
I'll get the coordinates to the marine
team. When we first started looking at the
radar information and trying to turn that
into a location in the sea, our marine
advisors looked at tides and that gave us
in a seabed location which we had
reasonably good confidence in. While
search and rescue teams begin more
targeted efforts, the world gets the news
everyone feared. Miliano Sala
was on board. French police
confirmed to news outlets that Emiliano
Sala was on the missing Piper Malibu.
Given the temperature of the water and the
weather conditions, it was very rough last
night. Their chances of survival are very,
very slim. In nunt
more affection for a much loved player.
We ask you to stand with us, to be united
and to respect the family they refuse to
grieve and continue to believe.
Right, that's great.
Everything you can find. Okay, thank you.
I've got a team working on securing any
mobile messages sent by the pilot or
Steller. Good idea. Okay.
As the search continues, investigators
look for any clues as to why the Piper
Malibu went missing. You see,
he deviates a bit to the right as he
approaches Guernsey, but he's pretty much
right back on course not long after. And
the altitude hopeed steady at 5,000ft
during that time. Nothing too unusual.
All right, but zoom in towards the
end of the flight. Right,
Check out those turns. They discover the
plane made a wide turn to the right three
minutes before it disappeared, followed by
a hard left.
Look at that final right turn.
It's almost 180 degrees.
The Piper then made a sharp right turn
seconds before vanishing from radar. So we
could see from the radar track that things
began to go very strangely. There was a
lot of turning both left and right, and it
culminated in a very sharp turn to the
right. What would cause such erratic
deviations, ending in a steep dive? The
behavior that we were seeing, which was an
increasing turn rate and an increasing
rate of descent, looked like the beginning
of a maneuver that we call a spiral dive.
Look at the altitude fluctuations up
and down and then a very rapid descent for
the final few moments of that flight.
This is a plane that is ascending, that is
descending, that is meandering, and
ultimately this plane is going to end up
in the sea. Did the plane suffer a loss of
control before plunging into the English
Channel? But even if
we do find the plane, it's still going to
prove to be quite challenging.
There's no CVR or FDR on the Malibu.
Not having a flight data record or a COPIT
voice recorder makes it incredibly
difficult to establish what happened in
the last few minutes of that flight.
After three days, the search for survivors
is called off. The world mourns the loss
of an up and coming footballer. Messages
of condolence flood in from football clubs
and players who pay tribute to Emiliano
Sala. While families grieve,
recovery teams deploy ships equipped with
side scan sonar hunting for the Piper
Malibu at the bottom of the English
Channel. But finding the wreckage 22 miles
off the coast of Guernsey is slow Going
there were high tidal flows and it was
further complicated by the winter storms
that were coming through. Pressure is on
the AIB to find the wreckage.
This starts as a small story about a plane
going missing. And then suddenly there is
somebody famous on board. And the whole
world wants to find out exactly what's
happened here.
So this sector looks clear.
Okay, let's move on.
Thirteen days into the investigation,
search teams continue to scour the bottom
of the English Channel looking for the
missing Piper Malibu, its pilot and its
sole passenger, footballer Emiliano Sala.
We knew it's going to be very difficult,
and at that stage we didn't expect to
actually find it.
Hey, I've got something. You won't believe
it. What is this? A message. Salah left
before takeo see
and we know aquipo. So in the
few moments before the plane took off,
Emiliano Sala sent a a voice note to his
friends back home in Argentina.
Investigators discover that Emiliano Sala
raised concerns prior to takeoff.
Was there some kind of mechanical problem
with the plane? It's a good point. I'll
check the maintenance s history.
We look to see whether the aircraft was
maintained properly and whether there's
any hint there that there could have been
some form of mechanical failure. Last PAL
check with within November. So two months
before the flight. Well, it's only flown
11 hours since then. As far as general
maintenance is concerned, it plane checks
out. When we looked at those records, we
found they were all in order and it wasn't
suggesting that there should be any sort
of mechanical failure.
Check it out. That looks promising.
Fifteen days into the investigation,
search teams make a critical discovery.
I bet that's our plane. Finding the
aircraft was a big breakthrough for the
investigation. Thanks. No, that's great.
Thanks for the update. Not only did they
locate the plane, but they found one of
the bodies. Emiliano Sala's body
is found inside the plane. His remains are
sent to a pathologist for analysis. The
pilot's body isn't found.
AIB investigators turned their attention
to video footage taken of the debris at
the bottom of the English Channelosit
on the forward section of the fusilot.
Was the plane out of control when it hit
the water? Look at the damage to the roof.
One of the most interesting things about
the wreckage was that all the compression
damage was on the top surfaces, not on the
lower surfaces. So what this showed us was
that the aircraft had hit the sea upside
down, that is in an inverted attitude.
Let's check the tail for damage as well.
I didn't See it in the earlier footage.
It's missing. Hmm. They didn't find it.
The outer section of the left wing has
gone too, actually, for both wings.
We did try and find them. We had. The
Coast Guard was looking for them and we
were hoping that they might be washed up
somewhere, but they never appeared. It's
hard to know when these pieces separated.
Did the tail and outer wings break off
before or on impact? Look at the bending
of the splice joint. Check out the
direction of the bending. A close
examination of the left wing provides a
vital clue. We could see that the left
wing failed as a result of the outer
section being bent downwards.
That can only mean one thing. The plane
broke up before it hit the water. The
finding that the left wing failed bending
downwards was very significant because if
the tail failed in flight, the aircraft
nose would pitch down, causing the wing to
fail bending downwards. Investigators
conclude that the inflight breakup began
when the tail broke off, causing the wings
to bend downwards, ripping off their outer
portion before impact. So now what we had
to establish was why did the aircraft
breakup in flight? Let's try modeling the
radar data. We use
the software simulation where you enter
the radar information that we had, and it
uses aircraft laws of motion to give us
information about the airspeed, the angle
of bank and the chief force on the
aircraft.
Okay, let's take a look. Using the plane's
altitude and coordinates, over time,
investigators are able to plot the
plane'maneuvers okay, so this is the
plane's last turn. Starting at 2016,
they examine the most mystifying maneuver,
the final dive towards the water.
The plane starts at 190 knots and
continues speeding up to almost 280 odds.
That's well beyond the structural limits
of the plane. The team discovers that the
excessive airspeed led to the aircraft's
mid flight breakup. Aircraft have
maximum speeds beyond which you must not
take them because if you take them above
those speeds, then you risk structural
damage to the aircraft. And in this case,
we saw the aircraft go way above those
speeds. Why was the pilot flying so fast?
Why does he make all those turns? My
immediate thoughts on seeing that turn was
it was extreme and there was clearly
something very wrong going on in the
aircraft at the time. Investigators
receive Emiliano Sala's toxicology report.
Could the results shed any light on the
mysterious crash of the Piper Malibu?
When we receive the results of the post
mortem, we rely on the pathologist to
indicate to us if there's anything that's
abnormal. There's nothing unusual in solar
toxicology. All right, then let's bring
up the weather report. Right. The team
turns to the weather data towards the end
of the flight in hopes of explaining why
the Piper Malibu lost control.
That doesn't look good. Rain.
Lots of others. Hmm. It looks like
he's turning as he's approaching those
souls. Maybe he's trying to fly around
the clouds. When you're flying at night
with very little light, there are lots of
ways in which your body can become
confused about where you are in space.
Are you climbing, are descending, are you
turning left or right? And that can quite
easily lead to a loss of control. So tell
me about the flight Investigators speak
with the air traffic controller.
Everything seemed totally normal. Then he
just disappeared off radar. And before
you lost him, did you hear anything
unusual? Not really.
He did ask to descend twice to
stay in visual conditions. November 2064,
Delta Bravo requesting further dissecentt
to maintain VMC. Cleared to descend at
your discretion. Roger. Not only was
the pilot trying to fly around the clouds,
he was trying to descend below them for
better visibility.
You know, here's what I don't get. The
pilot has instruments to help him fly
through poor visibility. Well, he's
clearly not using them. Perhaps he
doesn't know how to use them.
What do we have on this pilot? Let's
figure out exactly who's flying this
plane. We had a pilot that had
manoeuvered, we think, to avoid weather,
but appears to have lost control. So that
raised the question about why did that
happen? Thank you.
And here it is, his current private
license. It has all his ratings. Did the
pilot have the required experience to fly
the plane in bad weather? The family were
able to share his laptop with us and on
there was a photography taken of his
licence. He didn't have a full instrument
rating. He also had what's called an
instrument rating restricted. So that's a
limited instrument rating that allowed him
to operate in some conditions in
instrument flight rules. Plus he hasn't
flown using his instruments in almost two
years. We hadn't had any recent practice
in flying the aircraft in cloud or on
instruments. And instrument flying is a
perishable skill. You forget it quite
quickly. Oh, that's not the worst part.
The flight plan he filed for had a
nighttime departure. He doesn't have a
night rating. From our
evidence of Mr. Rbtson's recent flying,
it was all done in daytime in good
weather. Investigators conclude that
Ibbertson's licensing was inadequate for a
night flight in instrument conditions.
Oh, there's something more.
Every turn we took seemed to open a Lot
more cans of worms that we needed to
investigate. Check this out.
It's a summary of Ibtson's projected
expenses. Exactly.
Look here. Pilot fee.
Thatat rang alarm bells for me because
this guy is only a private pilot license
holder. He's not entitled to be paid.
November 2100 and 64 Delta Bravo ready for
takeoff. He didn't have a night rating and
he didn't have a commercial pilot's
license. Essentially means that this pilot
should not have been operating this
flight. So who
paid him? Who contracted
an inadequately licensed pilot to fly
Emiliano Sala to Cardiff?
Getting to the bottom of who organized
this flight was very difficult. There was
no contract, there were no receipts,
there was no agreements. This was all done
by word of mouth or telephone. S a wall
silence. They get very little
information about the flight from the
owner of the Piper Malibu. Oh, I've got a
tip, H Someone wants to talk
discreetly,
let's talk to them. Is this
the break investigators need?
David Henderson arranged the flight. He
works for the owner. Investigators meet
with a witness who has more information
about Emiliano Sala's flight over the
English Channel.
The witnesses that came forward wanted to
give us information but didn't want to be
identified. The informant provides
insight into the accident aircraft and its
operator.
So Henderson hired the pilot. That's
right. O davt's
in here. They learned that David Henderson
keeps a roster of pilots. Mr. Henderson,
how are you? David Ibtson was one of them.
I Henderson asked Ibtson if he could fly a
passenger from Cardiff to Nant and back
again. I think I can do that.
Mr. Ibtson would have known that he had no
night rating. And he would have known as a
private pilot license holder that he was
not entitled to be paid for the flight.
What is the departure time? From that,
investigators uncover more about the
flight's schedule. So the original plan
for the flight was for Mr. Salah to fly
back on Monday morning. Circumstances
changed. The flight to Cardiff kept
getting delayed.
Mr. Henderson, Ibtson again. There were
numerous changes to the departure time
over the weekend. Uh, sorry to say we have
a further delay. That was pushback at the
request of the passenger. So he was
supposed to be flying in conditions with
good visibility during the day, but that
changed and he doesn't have his night
rating. Have you seen
anything like this before? This is the
first. What we started to see a picture of
was an operation in the shadows.
It was unlicensed. It had no approval to
do commercial work. They were using an
unqualified pilot. We have to figure this
out work your contacts.
Let's see what we can find.
Are chartered flights with unlicensed
pilots common? It was very
challenging to assess the extent that this
was going on. There's no records kept,
there's no flight plans made, and
witnesses are understandably reluctant to
talk about it. Investigators learn about
flights that aren't properly licensed,
called Grey Charters. They offer a
discounted price, which comes with
increased risk. The problem with Greaty
Charters is that the aircraft that are
being used to operate them are often not
maintained to the same safety standard as
commercial airliners. The witnesses came
to us to talk about the prevalence of GRY
Charters. We could see a pattern emerging
of how common this was in aviation in the
uk. Four months after the crash of the
Piper Malibu, investigators are close to
releasing a final report when the case
takes an unexpected turn.
Oh, it'from the pathologist. He did
some additional testing on Solace s blood
work.
He just sent me the analysis.
Salah had carbon monoxide in his system.
The pathologist had ordered toxicology
tests, but that had not included carbon
monioxide. And when he realized he'd
missed that, he put in a request for just
the carbon monoxide to be tested. This had
really been a story about a pilot flying
outside of his competency in weather that
he'd neither practiced nor prepared for.
And it was all down to him. The onus was
being put on him. And then suddenly we get
this finding of carbon monoxide. And that
really made everyone think again.
So those carbon monoxide levels were at
58%. Toxicology testing reveals
that footballer Emiliano Sala had high
levels of carbon monoxide in his system.
I was shocked by the level of carbon
monoxide that was in his blood. What would
that have done to him?
Carbon monoxide over 50%.
Unconsciousness and eventual death.
The Sala was out. Hmm. He wouldn't
have been conscious when the plane
crashed. Are you warm? Than go forio.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless,
flavorless gas. You don't know it's
there. You don't know you're breathing it
in. And yet it's so dangerous. And it can
kill you quickly. Even low levels of
carbon monoxide are dangerous. Are you
good back there? The first thing that
happens is you get a headache. You might
feel confused, drowsy. You start not being
able to do tasks that you would normally
find easy. The question is, did Sala's
carbon monoxide poisoning come from the
plane or somewhere else?
Right. Did Emiliano Sala
show signs of carbon monoxide poisoning
prior to his Flight on the Piper Malibu.
The AIB seeks help from French
investigators. We had our colleagues in
France talked to people at Nonant Airport
to see what the behavior of the pilot and
the passenger had been as they were going
through the airport on the way to the
aireroplane. Well, how did the
passenger seem? Officials at Nant Airport
scrutinized security footage of Salah to
see if there was anything abnormal about
his actions.
What about the pilot?
Okay. No, but it's great. Thanks.
Negative. Salah seemed fine.
The pilot was alert. He wasn't swaying.
That means the carbon monoxide poisoning
was from the plane. David Ibtson's body
was never recovered from the English
Channel. His carbon monoxide levels
couldn't be determined.
You know, maybe the modeling data
will shed some light.
Investigators return to the flight path
data for further insight. Was the pilot
affected by the poisonous gas?
Straight level.
Looks like it's on autopilot.
It's hard to know if he was conscious or
not. Next, the plane turns right and
then turns left. Look at these bank
angles. 36 degrees to the right and
then 56 degrees to the left.
Those angles are well beyond the limits
of the autopilot. Investigators discovered
that the pilot was conscious enough to be
turning the plane in the final stage of
flight. But was he conscious during the
last minute of flight? Here the plane
is in its dive with its right wing pointed
right down, straight at the water. It's
hard to believe he was fully conscious for
that. Yes.
Oh, I check this out.
Before the plane broke up, the wings
almost level out. Either the pilot could
have applied pressure on the control
column, for example, by slumping over it,
and that could have caused the wings to
roll level. Check out the page of
the slight increase in the final
moments, the pitch of the Piper Malibu
starts to rise. It's evidence that the
pilot must have been partly conscious.
But for the aircraft to start to pitch up,
the pilot would have to be conscious
enough to pull the control column
rearward. His carbon and mon oxide levels
had to be lower than the passengers. He
may have been conscious, but he still
could have been badly impaired. May have
been slipping in and out of consciousness
and may have made a token effort to
recover the aircraft from the steep
descending turn. Without Mr. Ibtson's
body, it's impossible to know how much
he was affected by carbon monoxide. But we
know they were sitting in the same
combined cabin. Okay, we need
everything there is on the Piper Malibu
exhaust and ventilation system. And the
carbon monoxide is carried by the exhaust
gases which are generated by the engine we
needed to understand, how do those exhaust
gases get into the cabin? Are you warm?
Than go, Forio.
I've pulled the schematics, Grace.
Investigators study the exhaust and
ventilation systems of the Piper Malibu to
determine how carbon monoxide could have
entered the cabin. Maybe there
was an exhaust leak that seeped
through the firewall and the pressure
bulkhead. Maybe, but only
if there was a crack or a leak.
Piston engines produce high concentrations
of carbon monoxide that can potentially
enter the cabin as a result of cracks,
holes, or poorly fitted components in the
exhaust system. The team did a
lot of work on potential sources
for the carbon monoxide in the cabin. And
we talked to the manufacturer, and we
talked to the engine manufacturer.
Seals in the firewall and the forward
pressure bulkhead form an airtight
barrier, preventing engine fumes from
entering the cabin. Here's the thing.
Mainidetenance inspected the firewall and
the pressure bulkhead two months ago.
There's no signs of cracking or broken
seals. During the last maintenance
inspections, the engineers found nothing
wrong with the firewall or the pressure
bulkhead. Investigators consider a
different possibility. What if there was
a puncture in the exhaust piping?
Did a breach in the exhaust system allow
poisonous fumes to mix with the fresh air
used to ventilate the cabin? As fresh air
enters the aircraft, it's warmed by the
engine's exhaust pipe inside a chamber
called the heater muff before circulating
into the cabin.
What if the puncture happened after the
last inspection? Let's check the logbox.
They look for any history of an issue near
the tailp ###e no,
nothing here. What about on
the flight over to Nant?
That's a good point. And maybe something
happened there on the way to Nantes.
Mr. Rbtson did encounter a number of
problems with the aircraft that he
reported to various parties. Thank you.
It sounds like there were some issues on
the flight on the way over from Cardiff.
Like what? Oh, there was a small oil
leak, and during the landing, his brakes
gave him problems. Both were checked and
they weren't a safety concern. Okay, this
one is more troublesome. He reported a
bang mid flight. The cabin filled with
mist two days before the fatal flight.
Ibbotson piloted Emiliano Sala from
Cardiff to Noings and say his goodbyes.
What the. He's okay.
Oh, yeah, yeah, it's okay.
The plane is mid channel. He talks about a
bang, something that really kind of
grabbed his attention. He checks to see if
everything is working as it should do.
Plane keeps flying. But in the back of his
mind is, what on earth Was that navy?
The turbocharger failed on the way over to
Noant and puncture the tailpip.
Did a turbine inside an engine
turbocharger break, puncturing the exhaust
pipe, allowing poisonous gas into the
cabin? If you do have
damage to the tailpipe, then there is a
possibility that exhaust fumes and the
carbon monoxide can flow into the fresh
air and into the cabin. Interesting
theory. I've got an idea.
Investigators check with the National
Transportation Safety Board in the United
States where the Piper Malibu is
manufactured. Oh,
really? No, that'that's fine. Thanks.
Thanks so much. We became aware that the
NTSB were investigating events where a
turbine wheel and a turbocharger came
away. O K? It's happened twice before.
Could an engine component on the Piper
Malibu have come apart and punctured the
exhaust system, releasing toxic fumes into
the cabin? We don't know what the cause of
the bang was on the outbound flight from
Cardiff to Nant, and we may never know.
Investigators learn of two similar cases
in the United States. In both cases,
the pieces of the turbocharger only left
score marks. Tailpipes were never
punctured. We considered it unlikely that
a failure of the turbocharger would have
allowed carbon monoxide to enter the
cabin. Well, what if the tailpipe cracked
on its own? But it is a pretty
harsh environment inside the engine.
Exactly. Heat, vibration, prime conditions
for a crack to develop.
You look at all the separate components in
there for signience of failure or wear,
etc. And where necessary, replace
components. A visual inspection of the
tailpipe is part of their maintenance
check in. The plane only
flew for 11 hours after its last
inspection. Mainance found nothing wrong
with the tailpipe or the exhaust system.
Not a lot of time for a cracked belop. Is
it even possible they
study other accidents for instances of
cracked tailpipes.
Oh, look at this one. Investigators find a
disturbing case of carbon monoxide leaking
into the cabin of a small plane. A crack
in the exhaust formed just six flying
hours after a maintenance inspection.
Even if the mechanics had carried out the
inspection, our crack may have developed
sufficient to cause carbon dxide to leak
into the cabin during those 11 flying
hours. They conclude that a sudden crack
in the tailpipe was the likeliest reason
carbon monoxide leaked into the cabin.
The maintenance inspection they did on the
Piper was a visual one. Is a
visual inspection the safest way to
identify early signs of cracking in a
tailpipe?
According to the engine manufacturer, the
best way to test for small cracks is a
pressure test to inspect the tailpipe.
A soapy Solution is applied to the
exterior. If bubbles form, that means
there's a crack. We're easy to a
requirement for a private operator.
The FAA doesn't mandate it. What about
a commercial one?
It looks like pressure test is required
for commercial operators. Had the
aircraft been maintained under regulations
for commercial use, which is the way it
was actually being used, it would have
meant that during the maintenance there
was definitely a documented pressure test
of the exhaust system. If this had been a
very small crack that was missed by a
visual inspection, maintenance may
have caught it.
The AAIIB releases its report on the
crash. It concludes the pilot lost control
while turning the aircraft to regain
visibility, which resulted in an in
inflight breakup. Among the causes, it
points to a leak of carbon monoxide into
cabin. It also cites a lack of safety
standards from the operator of the Piper
Malibu as a contributing factor.
As a result of the AIB's investigation,
the civil Aviation Authority launches a
campaign to raise awareness of the dangers
of Gray Charters. David Henderson
is ultimately jailed for his role in the
accident. This was a real moment for the.
To take a good hard look at itself, to use
that as an opportunity to try to change
things, to try to make sure that something
like this didn't happen again. There were
a lot of sporting organisations for which
Grey Charter might have been part of the
culture of those organisations. And I
think this accident made them sit up and
take notice about the risks that their
members were taking. It was a risk that
ultimately took the life of Emiliano Sala,
a rising football star, on the day he said
goodbye to his teammates in NAND and flew
towards his new future.