Emiliano Sala: Cardiff City player was on board missing Piper Malibu plane with club 'very concerned'
The plane, travelling from Nantes to Cardiff, disappeared from radar over the Channel around 8pm on Monday night
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Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala is one of two people on board a plane that went missing overnight on Monday.
The light aircraft plane, travelling from Nantes in western France to Cardiff, disappeared from radar over the Channel around 8pm on Monday night. The French civil aviation authority later confirmed Sala was aboard.
Rescue teams were scrambled to waters north of Guernsey after the Piper Malibu plane carrying two passengers vanished. Searches of the area resumed on Tuesday morning, with authorities saying the missing plane had yet to be found.
"So far over 1,000 square miles have been searched by a total of five aircraft and two lifeboats," Guernsey Police said. "There has been no trace of the aircraft. The search is continuing."
“We are very concerned by the latest news that a light aircraft lost contact over the Channel last night,” an earlier statement from Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman read. “We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala.”
Guernsey Police said the Piper PA-46 Malibu, a single turbine engine aircraft carrying two people, departed Nantes at 7.15pm for Cardiff and was flying at an altitude of 5,000ft.
On passing Guernsey it "requested descent", but Jersey air traffic control (ATC) lost contact with the plane while it was flying at 2,300ft.
Guernsey Coastguard received an alert at 8.23pm from Jersey ATC that a light aircraft had gone off their radar approximately 15 miles north of Guernsey.
A major search and rescue operation was triggered involving both St Peter Port and Alderney lifeboats and the Air Search 1 and two HM Coastguard helicopters.
An update from Guernsey Police said: "The search was terminated at 02:00, with all search and rescue assets being stood down, due to strengthening winds, worsening sea conditions and reducing visibility.
"At this time no trace of the missing aircraft had been found."
The Met Office said the aircraft went missing when ”there were some showers around, but nothing too intense”. “Wind speeds were not too bad – average speeds were around 15 to 20mph,” they added.
The Argentine striker was announced as a new signing for the Premier League side on Saturday and tweeted his farewell to his former teammates at Nantes on Monday afternoon. Nantes president Waldemar Kita described him as an "adorable boy".
Sala posted a photo to his Instagram and Twitter accounts on Monday afternoon posing with the rest of the Nantes squad. He captioned the photo: “The final [heart emoji] goodbye @FCNantes.’’
Sala said when signing: “It gives me great pleasure and I can’t wait to start training, meet my new teammates and get down to work.”
Club chief executive Ken Choo added: “I’m sure all Cardiff City fans will join me in that and we can look forward to seeing our record signing in a Bluebirds shirt.”
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