On October 28, after two weeks of hearings and seven hours of deliberation, a popular jury at a Cardiff court found 67-year-old David Henderson guilty of recklessness or negligence likely to have endangered a device.

He also pleaded guilty to transporting a passenger without valid authorization.

He had since been released.

His defense has indicated that it is considering an appeal.

The small private plane aboard which the 28-year-old player and pilot David Ibbotson were aboard crashed in the English Channel on January 21, 2019. The FC Nantes striker was joining Cardiff City club, where he had just been transferred for 17 million euros.

The body of the player, whose disappearance had moved the football world, was found in the carcass of the device, more than two weeks after the accident, at a depth of 67 meters.

The body of the pilot, 59, has not been found.

Argentinian Emiliano Sala during a French league match against Nancy, January 10, 2017 in Nantes LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

According to the prosecution, the defendant was initially supposed to fly the aircraft but, while on vacation in Paris with his wife, he had entrusted the transport to David Ibbotson.

The latter did not have a commercial pilot license, his qualification for this type of aircraft had expired and he was not competent to fly at night.

Producing text messages at the hearing, prosecutor Martin Goudie accused the intermediary of having acted "in his financial interest" and of knowing full well that the pilot was not qualified: "He ignored certain (security) requirements when it suited him and his business interests. "

"Paperwork"

The owner of the Piper Malibu, Fay Keely, had also indicated during her testimony that she had explicitly asked the defendant in writing to no longer use the services of David Ibbotson, after several reported violations.

A photo released by British investigators on February 25, 2019 shows the Piper Malibu on the tarmac at Nantes airport, France, before the accident HO AAIB / AFP / Archives

David Henderson's defense, however, had refuted any "recklessness", saying that the breaches of regulations alleged against his client were "purely a matter of paperwork" and that they had not really put the theft in danger.

She assured that the only difference between a commercial and private license was the possibility of making the passengers pay, without this saying anything about the capacities of the pilot, who had more than 3,500 flight hours to his credit.

Indication of considering an appeal, Mr. Henderson's lawyer, Andrew Shanahan, noted that civil aviation authorities "had always accepted" that the organization of the flight itself did not cause the crash. and that the aircraft was properly maintained, their report "suggesting" a malfunction of the aircraft.

Flowers placed in front of the Beaujoire stadium in Nantes on February 8, 2019 in tribute to the former club striker Emiliano Sala who died in a plane crash LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

In its final report published in March 2020, the British Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau estimated that the pilot was "probably" poisoned with carbon monoxide from the engine's exhaust system.

He concluded that the pilot had lost control of the aircraft during a maneuver performed at too high a speed, "probably" intended to avoid bad weather.

The aircraft was launched at a speed of 270 miles per hour (435 km / h) upon impact with the water, leaving no hope of survival.

"Illegal commercial flights pose a significant security risk and this is reflected in the court's decision," the Civil Aviation Authority reacted on Friday.

Emiliano Sala's remains were repatriated in February 2019 to Argentina.

Parents, friends, emissaries from Nantes, Bordeaux and Cardiff, inhabitants: there were hundreds of them who came to bow, cry, lay a hand on the footballer's coffin in Progreso, the Argentinian village of 3,000 inhabitants which had seen him grow up .

Emiliano Sala's funeral in Progreso, Argentina, February 16, 2019 JUAN MABROMATA AFP / Archives

In France, the tributes had also multiplied after the announcement of the disappearance of the footballer.

© 2021 AFP