The British public prosecutor's office accused Tuesday the man accused of having organized the flight that transported Emiliano Sala, who died in the plane crash in 2019, of having been motivated by greed in defiance of security, hiring a pilot he knew was unqualified.

David Henderson, 67, is on trial in Cardiff for acting in a reckless or negligent manner which could have endangered the plane in which the Argentinian striker from FC Nantes was traveling to join the club Cardiff, where he came from to be transferred.

"Mr. Henderson, as operator, organized" the return flights between Nantes and Cardiff in January 2019, explained to jurors the prosecutor Martin Goudie.

These two flights "were organized because it was in his financial interest," he said, and "he ignored certain (security) requirements when it suited him and his business interests."

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According to Martin Goudie, the accused, nicknamed "the phantom pilot", was initially supposed to fly the aircraft, which crashed in the English Channel on January 21, 2019. But, busy, he had made sure that David Ibbotson, pilot of 59-year-old whose body has not been found, takes his place.

The prosecutor accused the sixty-year-old of having acted negligently "by using a pilot" whom he knew full well that "was neither qualified nor competent to carry out these flights".

Indeed, “Mr. Ibbotson did not have a commercial pilot license, his qualification for (this) type of airplane had expired in November 2018 and he was not competent to fly in the weather conditions that Mr. Henderson knew. that these flights could encounter ”, underlined Martin Goudie.

" Pandora's box "

David Henderson had been warned of concerns about Ibbotson's skills, but he brushed them aside, writing to the pilot in a text message that the only "prerequisite was willingness to listen and learn."

"We both have the opportunity to make money," he also sent the deceased pilot, in a text message read by the prosecutor, "but not if we upset customers or if we attract the attention of CAA ”, the body which regulates civil aviation in the United Kingdom.

Hours after the crash, the accused sent messages to several people asking them to "shut up" and suggesting that the incident would open "a whole Pandora's box," the prosecutor told jurors.

On January 21, 2019, at 9:41 pm, Henderson wrote to mechanic David Smith: “The Malibu disappeared on its way back from France.

"A few minutes later, he completes:" Don't tell anyone.

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Two weeks of trial

"Ibbo crashed the Malibu and killed himself with the VIP passenger!" Sacred disaster. There will be an investigation, ”he also sent the next day to the person who was concerned about the pilot's skills. He lost control of the aircraft, which then broke in flight, during a maneuver carried out at too high a speed, "probably" intended to avoid bad weather in order to be able to fly on sight, had asserted. in March 2020 the final report of the British Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB).

The body of the 28-year-old 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.

His remains were repatriated in February 2019 to Argentina.

The trial, which began Monday with jury selection, is scheduled to last two weeks.

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  • FC Nantes

  • Crash

  • Emiliano Sala

  • Nantes

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