The portrait of Emiliano Sala displayed at the gates at La Beaujoire.

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Michel Euler / AP / SIPA

The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced Thursday it had indicted a man for breaches of air navigation laws in its investigation into the crash that claimed the life of footballer Emiliano Sala in 2019. "The Authority British Civil Aviation Authority has taken legal action against David Henderson for offenses related to the fatal accident of a light aircraft in the English Channel in January 2019, ”CAA Director Richard Stephenson said.

David Henderson was the one commissioned by the player's agent, Willie McKay, to originally fly the plane.

Before he inexplicably leaves his place to David Ibbotson, who ultimately took control.

According to our information, Henderson's name appeared in administrative documents on the day of the plane's departure, which would have attested to his presence in Nantes.

A location that the experienced pilot has always denied, with security cameras showing only two people on the tarmac before takeoff, Ibbotson and Sala.

According to Willie McKay's version, it would be a confusion linked to the fact that David Henderson had lent his credit card to Dave Ibbotson, to whom he had subcontracted the flight for an unknown reason, the time of his stay in Brittany.

The man, several times employed by the British agent before the Sala affair, never responded to the media.

Sala's mother "needs to know the whole truth"

Mr. Henderson, 66, who allegedly played the role of intermediary to organize the theft, is accused in particular of having acted "negligently".

He is due in court in Cardiff, Wales on October 26, after a previous British court appearance at the end of September.

The man had already been arrested and then released in June 2019 by Dorset police, who suspected him of "manslaughter".

The police later said they would not pursue the suspect.

"His mother absolutely needs to know the whole truth" about what happened, almost two years after the crash, reacted the firm Hickman and Rose, which represents Mercedes Taffarel.

The mother of the missing player is, however, "disappointed" that these prosecutions risk delaying the holding of a public inquiry, whose role in the United Kingdom is to establish facts, but not to pronounce convictions.

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

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

The body of the 59-year-old pilot has not been found.

In its final report published last March, the British Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) estimated that the pilot lost control of the aircraft during a maneuver performed at too high a speed, "probably" intended to avoid bad weather to be able to fly on sight.

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Death of Emiliano Sala: British police will not prosecute suspect arrested in June

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