‘Shipwreck hunter’ who found Emiliano Sala's plane says it's ‘imperative’ to retrieve it from the English Channel for his ‘desperate’ family as divers reveal there is a body on board
Air Accident Investigation Branch release chilling image of stricken plane in sea two weeks after it vanished
Striker's father Horacio spoke of grief on TV as shipwreck hunter David Mearns said bodies could be found
Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson left Nantes for Cardiff on January 21 and wreckage found on Sunday
Crowdfunded vessel picked up sonar signal and wreckage will now be probed for clues as to what happened
By MARTIN ROBINSON, CHIEF REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:09 GMT, 4 February 2019 | UPDATED: 17:33 GMT, 4 February 2019
The 'shipwreck hunter' who found Emiliano Sala's plane has said it is ‘imperative’ to retrieve the wreckage from the English Channel for his ‘desperate’ family as divers revealed there is a body on board.
Marine scientist David Mearns volunteered to help the Sala family for free after initial search and rescue efforts by a number of agencies failed. His team located the plane 220ft down on the seabed.
Haunting image of the wreckage was released by the Air Accident Investigation Branch today, as the agency revealed it contains the body of either Sala or his pilot David Ibbotson.
Mr Mearns said: '(The AAIB) will be able to rule things out or rule things in, that's the normal investigative process for any crash, so I think it's imperative that the plane is recovered, and now even more so now we know someone is down there.'
An AAIB spokesman said: 'Tragically, in video footage from the ROV, one occupant is visible amidst the wreckage. The AAIB is now considering the next steps, in consultation with the families of the pilot and passenger, and the police'.
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This is the first picture of the wreckage of Emiliano Sala's plane on the bottom of the Channel
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Emiliano Sala (pictured) has been missing since after his plane went down over the English Channel on January 21 - but the wreckage has been found a fortnight on
Interview with David Mearns who found Emiliano Sala's missing plane
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This map has been issued by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch showing the position where the wreckage of the plane which was carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala was discovered
The new image of the plane shows the rear left side of the fuselage, including part of the aircraft registration, N264DB.
A decision has yet to be taken on whether to raise the wreckage to the surface.
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Emiliano Sala's father Horacio (pictured last week) has told how he was 'desperate' and in a 'bad dream' after the plane's wreckage was found on the sea bed
The statement added: 'The AAIB is now considering the next steps, in consultation with the families of the pilot and passenger, and the police.'
The families of the £15million striker and his pilot David Ibbotson are waiting to hear whose body is in the fuselage of the Piper Malibu that vanished in a storm two weeks ago.
Sala's bereft father Horacio, who has not joined his ex-wife, son and daughter in Britain, told reporters in the Argentinian town of Progreso: 'I cannot believe it .... this is a dream ... a bad dream ... I'm desperate'.
The coastguard abandoned their search last week after ruling out any survivors of the air crash with the footballer's family brought in a celebrated shipwreck hunter to lead the search.
The sea search vessel FPV Morven picked up the wreckage using sonar yesterday morning and an unmanned Air Accident Investigation Branch submarine sent to the sea bed used an HD camera to identify the blue and white aircraft.
Mr Mearns volunteered to help the Sala family for free after initial search and rescue efforts by a number of agencies failed.
Him and his team, working in conjunction with the AAIB, found the remains of the plane within two hours of starting their search.
He said he had stayed in regular contact with the Sala family by text message because of the language barrier.
'We are informing them every step of the way what's going on and they are making it clear to us what their priorities are at all times,' he said.
'There's a much greater chance they will get answers if (the plane is) recovered.'
Mr Mearns continued: 'I haven't spoken to them verbally, but they were devastated the last time we were here and frankly the news is worse today.
'Now their worst fears are confirmed, so I would imagine they would be just as devastated - it's going to take a long time for them to come to terms with the loss.'
Wreckage of Emiliano Sala's plane is found by shipwreck crew
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Marine Scientist David Mearns, is interviewed by reporters as he leaves Guernsey after he helped discover the wreckage of the plane that was carrying footballer Emiliano Sala
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The 19-metre survey vessel FPV Morven returning into St Peter Port Harbour following the first day seabed search for the plane
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Midday today: Poor weather and high seas could hamper the recovery operation with an approaching storm shown in red on the left of the image
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Midday Thursday: The rough conditions are set to worsen with the peak of the bad weather due later in the week
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Shipwreck hunter David Mearns has been keeping in contact with Sala's family by text despite the language barrier
Mr Mearns said the discovery had been so quick because the team had been looking for a static object rather than in a dynamic environment searching for survivors.
'No-one should walk away with the impression that the coastguard and also the Channel Islands air search did anything other than a professional job,' he said.
Mr Mearns, who has spearheaded around 20 historic wreck discoveries including one of Britain's most famous battleships the HMS Hood, said with the right equipment it should be a relatively straightforward job to lift the plane.
He said it would need to be done in 'slack water' - the point at which the tide is turning.
The operation will be conducted by the Ministry of Defence's Salvage and Marine Operations (S&MO) in partnership with the AAIB.
Mr Mearns said a salvage vessel equipped for working in the North Sea and a properly equipped dive support vessel would be able to lift the vessel within a matter of days.
When asked if the body would be recovered before the wreck itself, he said: 'That's down to the AAIB and their operational people about how they do that.
'The body will be the most sensitive of objects that they are picking up so they will be very careful about that - they will undoubtedly have people on board who are experienced with the recovery of human remains.
'Sadly this is not the first time this will have happened. I'm sure they will have the right professionals out there for that.'
The specialist search for the missing plane began off the coast of Guernsey yesterday morning and located the wreckage on the seabed just hours later.
Sala and pilot Ibbotson left Nantes in France for Cardiff on January 21 - after the star signed for the Welsh Premier League team, disappearing over the Channel.
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The specialist FPV Morven ship, pictured in Guernsey, was being used in a privately funded search for the plane of missing footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson
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The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) Geo Ocean III moved in to assist the Morven when it discovered wreckage. Geo sent an ROV to visually identify the wreck on the seabed
The official search was called off after four days but Sala's friends, family and fans clubbed together to pay for a private search to continue with renowned shipwreck hunter Mr Mearns.
On Sunday morning, their efforts paid off.
Geo Ocean III left Ostend in Belgium at 9am and began combing the area. Within hours it was search vessel FPV Morven which picked up a sonar signal from the depths.
The wreckage of the Piper Malibu was formally identified by officials from the Air Accident Investigation Board.
The AAIB's vessel deployed a remote-controlled submarine to examine the plane and tonight confirmed it was the craft carrying the striker.
Families of both men have been informed of the discovery.
Sala's father said last night he had not had any contact with the rest of his family - who are still in a hotel in Nantes - and found out about the plane's discovery on TV.
'I communicated with them every day, but since I do not have Whatsapp it's hard to call them or call me. They told me that the days passed and there was no news of Emiliano or the plane,' said Horacio.
He said that the family are in the hotel along with 'eight or nine' friends who are believed to have received the news from Argentine embassies in France and England, at 9am.
Both the AAIB's Geo Ocean III vessel and a private boat, which includes a side-scan sonar, were used to try and find the aircraft.
Teams from the AAIB have now moved into location at the site to recover the aircraft.
The vessel that made the discovery was lead by marine scientist David Mearns, who confirmed the identity and location of the plane.
He confirmed that it was in the early stages of this morning's search, around 9am, the discovery was made.
'But tonight they have heard devastating news and in respect of the families I won't comment any further about what has happened.'
The recovery vessel picked up something on the sonar 24 miles off Guernsey and made further passes over the area to pinpoint the location before going through various stages of identification.
David Mearns called the news 'devastating' but told Sky News that 'at least we were able to bring some sort of answer to the families.'
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A track of the FPV Morven shows it returning to shore after the wreckage was discovered
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Mr Mearns told Sky News: 'This is about the best result we could have hoped for the families'
The discovery came just two days after cushions from a plane were found on a beach near Surtainville in Normandy, France, directly east of Guernsey where the plane disappeared from radar.
Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson disappeared when their plane vanished as it passed near Alderney on 21 January during a flight from Nantes to Cardiff.
The AAIB said its search was expected to last three days, while the private search will continue 'until the plane is located', reported the BBC.
Underwater search for Emiliano Sala's plane gets underway
More than 3,500 people had responded to the appeal for funds and the target was broken with the help of a £26,000 donation from French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe.
The boat, operated by global marine cable installation firm A-2-Sea, is equipped with the latest technology.
It includes a multi-beam echosounder and side-scan sonar, which can detect anomalies on the seabed.
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The Piper Malibu carrying Sala from Nantes to Cardiff vanished over Alderney on January 21 and is feared to have plunged into one of the Channel's most perilous areas, known as Hurd's Deep
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Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson (pictured) disappeared when their plane vanished as it passed near Alderney on 21 January
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Marine scientist David Mearns, 60, lead the private search in the four mile square area
David Mearns, who claims to have found 24 major shipwrecks, led the group during the search.
He said that the boat, called Morven, was brought from Southampton to Guernsey six hours earlier than scheduled to take advantage of a break in the weather.
Mr Mearns said both vessels would divide the search area looking for 'wreckage' and a 'debris field' in a depth of 60-120m (196-390ft).
Members of Mr Sala's family and friends arrived in Guernsey last Saturday and several members of the group were later taken to the small island of Burhou.
David Mearns says he'll continue to work 'until the plane is located'
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Emiliano Sala's mother and sister arrived at Guernsey Airport following a flight out to the search area west of Alderney on January 28
The islet was the focus of social media attention on the night of the disappearance after members of the public shared a picture which appeared to show flares coming from the island.
However, John Fitzgerald, the director of Channel Islands Air Search, said the island and its surrounding area had been searched many times.
He added: 'It is really a puffin reserve. It is tiny but you can land on it,' he said. 'The plane and helicopters have been over many times since [the night the plane vanished], but they haven't seen anything in that area.
'It is only a few hundred metres long and it has been saturated by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
'The flares
