Emiliano Sala: Search for Cardiff City striker and pilot abandoned
The search was called off after a fourth unsuccessful day since the aircraft disappeared off radars on Monday night north of Guernsey - updates from Thursday
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Your support makes all the difference.Follow the latest updates as the search for Emiliano Sala, a pilot and a missing plane was called off on Thursday afternoon without any trace of the missing Cardiff City striker in the English Channel.
The search was called off after a fourth unsuccessful day since the aircraft disappeared off radars on Monday night north of Guernsey. After officials confirmed that the priority of the search changed from a rescue mission to a recovery operation, a statement from police said that Thursday search will focus on coastal areas of the Channel Islands and northern France, yet this turned up nothing linked to the missing aircraft.
Cardiff City have said that they are “realistic” about the fate of Sala, who joined the club in a £15m deal last weekend, and revelations about the aeroplane that was carrying Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson continue to emerge, including a voice message left by Sala to his friends in Argentina in the final hours before he disappeared complaining about the condition of the plane and his fear for his safety. Follow the live updates below.
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Follow the latest updates as the search for missing Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Salah continues, three days after the plane carrying him and pilot Dave Ibbotson went missing just north of Guernsey in the Channel Islands.
We're expecting an update from Guernsey Police around 8am on the decision whether to continue searching for any sign of the plane in the Channel in the waters surrounding Alderney and Guernsey, though at this stage officials say there is little hope of the Argentine being found alive.
Police abandoned their search on Wednesday at sunset after a second day of unsuccessful attempts to locate the missing plane, and any hope of finding Sala and Ibbotson alive generated by an early announcement appeared to fade as the day went on.
Guernsey Police released the four possible scenarios that they are investigating. These were:
1. They have landed elsewhere but not made contact.
2. They landed on water, have been picked up by a passing ship but not made contact.
3. They landed on water and made it into the life raft we know was on board.
4. The aircraft broke up on contact with the water, leaving them in the sea.
Cardiff City have said that they are "realistic" about the fate of Sala, but the search could well continue into a fourth day later today.
UPDATEPolice have issued a statement this morning to confirm that the search continues but will today focus on looking at coastal areas for any objects or signs of the aircraft that have washed up over the last few days.
The areas of focus will be:
• Burhou
• The Casquets
• Alderney
• The Cherbourg Peninsula
• Jersey
• Sark
In total, the area being searched this morning covers around 280sq miles.
Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman spoke late last night to admit that the club were "realistic" of Sala's fate as hope of finding him continues to fade.
Where are they searching today?Search teams are looking at the coastal areas via aeroplane around Alderley, the north coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula, down to Jersey and across to Guernsey and the island of Sark.
An update will come later in the day on whether anything found on these searches can be linked to the missing aircraft.
While the search continues this morning, officials are keen not to raise false hope over finding the two men alive, despite yesterday's reported theories.
Guernsey harbour master Captain David Barker has admitted the chances of finding either man alive have "faded to almost zero".
He added: "As the Channel Islands air searcher said, the survival times for someone in the water is very low, we estimated that at around three hours, the time of survival in a life raft would be longer.
"No-one could be more concerned for these two men's safety than myself... You can be sure that my focus is still on trying to deal with any hope of survival."
Football agent Mark McKay, who was involved in brokering Sala's £15m transfer to Cardiff from Nantes, has confirmed that he was involved on organising the flight that went missing, but says that he is not the owner of the plane after rejecting reports that claimed he held sole ownership.
I can confirm that when Emiliano made myself and his agent Meissa N'Diaye aware that he wished to travel back to Nantes following his medical and signing on Friday, I began to look into arranging a private flight to take him to Nantes on Saturday morning.
I have been in contact with officials from Cardiff and the player's agent over these difficult past few days and will continue to do so.
A post has emerged on Facebook from pilot David Ibbotson in the days before the flight disappeared, in which he said that he felt "a bit rusty" on the flight over to Nantes and that he was struggling to get to grips with the Instrument Landing System that resulted in him flying "a bit high".
UPDATEGuernsey Police have issued a fresh statement after this morning's search resumed. There is no news on any discoveries, and it would appear that efforts to find any trace of the missing aircraft are close to being exhausted, with a second meeting set to take place in the coming hours to decide the best plan of action moving forwards.
Sevilla's Wissam Ben Yedder paid tribute to Sala on Wednesday night after he scored in their Copa del Rey first-leg victory over Barcelona.
Having scored their second goal, Ben Yedder revealed a message on his under-shirt that read: "For my brother, strength [to] Emiliano Sala."
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