Coroner calls for crackdown on ‘grey flights’ after Emiliano Sala’s death

Emiliano Sala’s flight was arranged as part of the striker’s £15m transfer to Cardiff City from the French Ligue 1 side Nantes, the jury was told. Photograph: Jean-François Monier/AFP/Getty Images

A senior coroner has called for a clampdown on so-called “grey flights” after an inquest jury concluded the plane in which the footballer Emiliano Sala died was operating without the correct licence and was flown by a pilot who did not have the necessary skills.

The Dorset coroner Rachel Griffin recommended that the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, consider giving the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) more power to prevent such flights and was also writing to sporting organisations including the Premier League to discourage their use.