British police announced on Wednesday that they would not prosecute a suspect briefly arrested last year for manslaughter in the investigation into the death of Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala, whose plane crashed at sea.
After "careful consideration of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Sala's death", "the police will not request a manslaughter charge" against a 64-year-old suspect, said detective Simon Huxter, in a police statement from Dorset (southern England).
The Times identified the suspect arrested in late June 2019 and released the same day, as the private pilot David Henderson. According to the newspaper, it was he who had played the role of intermediary to organize the fatal flight to the Argentinian player, without however being in command on the day of the crash.
AAIB report due Friday
The small private plane carrying Emiliano Sala and his pilot, David Ibbotson, crashed in the English Channel on January 21, 2019 as the FC Nantes striker joined the Cardiff club where he had just been transferred. The body of the 28-year-old footballer, whose disappearance had moved the world of football, was found in the carcass of the apparatus, more than two weeks after the accident, at 67 meters deep. The 59-year-old pilot's body was not found.
"The investigation into how the flight was handled continues," said Dorset police, who promised to "continue helping" the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and its own investigations. The British Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which had determined that the plane was not authorized to fly on commercial flights, is due to release its report on Friday.
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