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Sala flight organiser found guilty of endangering safety of the aircraft

It took the jury of seven men and five women seven and a half hours to convict the 67-year-old. 



Sala flight organiser found gu...
Soccer

Sala flight organiser found guilty of endangering safety of the aircraft

The man who organised the flight that ended in the deaths of Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson has been found guilty of endangering the safety of the aircraft. 

David Henderson was convicted by a majority verdict at Cardiff Crown Court today.

It took the jury of seven men and five women seven and a half hours to convict the 67-year-old.

The trial heard Henderson had arranged the flight with football agent William 'Willie' McKay.

He asked Mr Ibbotson to fly the place, as he himself was away on holidays in Paris.

Sala, who was aged 28, was travelling to Cardiff having signed for Cardiff City from Nantes in early 2019.

The aircraft in which Sala was travelling, with Ibbotson as the pilot, crashed into the English Channel on January 21st.

Sala's body was recovered, but the body of Ibbotson was never found.

The jury heard that when Mr Henderson heard the plane went down, he texted a number of people telling them to remain silent as it 'would open a can of worms'.

It transpired in the aftermath that Mr Ibbotson, who regularly flew for Henderson, did not hold a commercial pilot's licence at the time of the flight.

David Henderson will be sentenced on November 12th.

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Cardiff Cardiff City David Henderson David Ibbotson Emiliano Sala Nantes