A businessman who arranged the flight that crashed into the Channel, killing footballer Emiliano Sala, failed to check if the pilot was qualified to fly the plane, an inquest has heard.
Sala, 28, died along with 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson when the single-engine aircraft crashed near Guernsey during a flight from Frances to Wales in January 2019.
The inquest previously heard Sala was overcome by toxic levels of carbon monoxide poisoning prior to dying from severe head and chest injuries consistent with a plane crash. The Argentinian striker had recently signed for Premier League club Cardiff City from French Ligue 1 side Nantes for £15m.
David Henderson, a businessman and former RAF pilot, organised private return flights taking Sala between Cardiff and Nantes on behalf of football agent Willie McKay, a long-term associate.
Dorset coroner’s court heard that Ibbotson’s private licence did not allow him to fly passengers commercially and charge for his services.
When asked by senior Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin if he had verified Ibbotson’s qualifications, Henderson said: “I just took him at his word that he was an experienced pilot. I had flown with him a couple of times and he was proficient.”
Griffin asked: “Did you even ask to see his licence?”
Henderson replied: “No.”
The Piper Malibu plane was owned by Cool Flourish, a trust fund run by Fay Keely and her family.
Henderson told the hearing he had a verbal agreement with Keely to manage the plane on her behalf, arranging flights with clients over the phone, which he would take himself or find another pilot to handle.
Speaking at the hearing, Keely said she first became aware of Ibbotson flying the plane after receiving two infringement notices from the Civil Aviation Authority in the summer of 2018.
She told Henderson in an email that she did not want Ibbotson flying the plane again, to which he responded with “multiple expletives”, she said.
Henderson said he would have spoken to Ibbotson about the infringement notices and “smoothed it out” with Keely, who told the jury she could not recall such a conversation.
Henderson was asked about an email to Keely in which he apologised for using Ibbotson to fly her sister. “I think generally people preferred me to fly them and I was apologising for not being able to do it myself,” he said.
The last maintenance check on the plane was carried out in November 2018 and Henderson said it was airworthy.
He “could not recall” whether he had flown the Piper Malibu in the months between the last service and the crash.
The inquest continues.
