Emiliano Sala’s heartbroken mum reveals family desperately searched for footballer after tragic plane crash
THE mother of Emiliano Sala has told how she and her family desperately searched for the footballer after his tragic plane crash.
Mercedes Carina Taffarel told an inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall how she and the 28-year-old’s siblings, Dario and Romina, roamed the beaches of the Channel Islands calling his name in hope of finding him.
Ms Taffarel said that at the time of his death, in January 2019, her son was “full of hope” for the future after his £15 million transfer from Cardiff City.
She begged the inquest to “leave no stone unturned” and deliver justice for the family so her son could finally rest in peace.
She said: “In the cold weather we walked on those islands calling his name, hoping to hear from him. We still had hope which ended in pain which abides to this day.
“As a family we did all we could to find the wreckage. His loss was a complete shock because he was such a pillar for us.
“The crash changed our lives. It is the worst thing that could have happened for us. Our lives have changed forever since that day.
“Now nothing is the same. Nothing can bring Emmy back to us but we ask for justice so he can rest in peace and so we can have some peace of mind knowing that we did all we could to prevent future deaths.
“All we are asking for is justice. We want no stone unturned to find out what happened.”
The Argentine was being flown from France to South Wales by pilot David Ibbotson following his transfer from Nantes to Cardiff City FC when the Piper PA-46 Malibu plunged into the English Channel.
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Sala‘s body was found a month later while Ibbotson’s has never been discovered.
A post mortem examination confirmed Sala died from head and trunk injuries.
Senior pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told the inquest it is “highly likely” he and pilot David Ibbotson passed out after inhaling carbon monoxide from a faulty exhaust pipe.
Dr Purdue told how the Argentinian footballer suffered “severe poisoning” from the deadly gas before the plane crashed into the sea in January 2019.
The body of Mr Ibbotson was never recovered from the English Channel but Dr Purdue said he too would have been exposed to the same levels of carbon monoxide.
Ms Sala’s statement came after the family’s lawyers lost a battle on Monday to include five further witnesses in the inquest including an engineer who carried out a maintenance check of the aircraft just 11 hours before the crash.
INQUEST SUFFERED SEVERAL DELAYS
They hoped to ask an engineer whether he carried out a pressure test on the exhaust pipe.
But the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said it was not relevant whether the test had been carried out because it had nothing to do with Mr Sala’s death.
The four-week jury inquest has suffered several delays after David Henderson, the man who organised the flight, was charged and later convicted for recklessly endangering the aircraft.
He asked Mr Ibbotson to fly on the day of the crash, even though he had no licence to carry commercial passengers or fly at night.
Henderson, 67, was jailed for 18 months after a trial at Cardiff Crown Court in October 2021.
The inquest continues.