Cardiff City star Emiliano Sala died from head and chest injuries and had to be identified by his fingerprints after his body was pulled from plane wreckage, inquest hears
- Sala died from head and trunk injuries after plane crashed over English Channel
- Inquest opened into his death following the recovery of his body on February 7
- Family of David Ibbotson, who piloted the plane, are still looking for his body
Footballer Emiliano Sala died from massive injuries to his head and chest and could only be identified by his fingerprints, an inquest heard today.
But the body of his pilot David Ibbotson was not found in the wreckage of the Piper Malibu that disappeared over the Channel last month.
Brendan Allen, acting senior coroner for Dorset, adjourned proceedings in Bournemouth until November 6 for a pre-inquest review.
He told the hearing this was because an Air Accidents Investigation Branch inquiry into the tragedy could take between six months and a year.
Cardiff City star Sala was identified by his fingerprints after the tragic crash which happened after his record £15million signing to the Welsh club from Nantes in France.
Missing footballer Emiliano Sala was confirmed dead after his body was brought up from the bottom of the English Channel
Police are pictured recovering Sala’s body from the sea after the footballer died of head and trunk injuries in the crash
Pilot David Ibbotson (pictured with his wife, Nora) was carrying the Cardiff City star to his new club when the crash occurred
Flowers and tributes have been laid for Emiliano Sala at FC Nantes Stadium in western France
Nantes players, staff members and Nantes’ Bosnian head coach Vahid Halilhodzic (C-R) pay tribute to late Argentinian forward Emiliano Sala prior to the French L1 football match between Nantes and Nimes at the Beaujoire stadium today
The sister of Emiliano Sala posted this picture of the footballer on Instagram after it was confirmed his body has been recovered from the wreckage of an air crash at sea on Thursday last week. The photo shows him on the pitch at Nantes, the French club he was leaving to join Cardiff City
Details surrounding the footballer’s death emerged hours after the family of David Ibbotson, who piloted the aircraft that crashed over the English Channel, said they won’t give up hope in their fight to find the missing father.
The 59-year-old was carrying Sala from Nantes to Cardiff when the plane crashed into the sea near Alderney on January 21.
Daughter Danielle told Good Morning Britain today that the family have raised £140,000 as they try to fund a search operation that will cost more than double that amount.
‘If you’ve got hope you shouldn’t give up,’ she said. ‘He wouldn’t stop searching for me.’
Mr Ibbotson’s wife, Nora, told the show that they won’t be able to grieve properly until his body is brought home.
‘We do know he’s gone but we want him back,’ she said. ‘We know he is dead but we just want him home. He’s been a brilliant husband he’s supported us all he was our supporter he was our rock. We feel like he’s just out there on his own at the moment.
‘I know conditions aren’t brilliant and it’s a dangerous sea but we just need to have that last look.’
Sala’s body was recovered in a privately-funded search which had been launched after the initial search was called off three days after the men and their plane, which had been travelling from Nantes in France to Cardiff, went missing.
The aircraft remains underwater off the coast of Guernsey in the English Channel.