Foreign
Emiliano Sala Plane Crash: The Story Behind The Transfer Flights
The body representing air charter companies has called on aviation regulators to investigate the series of flights leading up to the plane crash which killed footballer Emiliano Sala.
The Air Charter Association (Baca) has concerns about the nature of the schedule of flights arranged by agents behind the multi-million pound transfer deal to bring Sala to Cardiff City from French side Nantes.
It wants the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – which has an enforcement division – to investigate.
Air accident investigators are still looking into why the Piper Malibu plane carrying Sala, 28, to Cardiff for his first training session crashed into the English Channel on the night of 21 January.
The light aircraft was piloted by David Ibbotson, whose body has not been found.
From the beginning of December through to a few days before the fatal crash, a succession of journeys were made between the UK and France by the various parties involved in the transfer deal.
Football agent Willie McKay, who brokered the deal, has said he and his family arranged and paid for these flights.
Among the passengers were Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock, coach Kevin Blackwell and player liaison manager Callum Davies.
They were joined on some of the flights by Willie McKay himself and his son Mark McKay – agent to Nantes FC, where Emiliano Sala was playing at the time.
Emiliano Sala and his agent Meissa N’Diaye were also on several flights from mid-January onwards, when discussions about the Argentinian striker’s £15m transfer to Cardiff intensified.
What do we know about these flights?
A BBC Wales investigation has found the flights were conducted by three different companies or individuals.
We understand that all were filed on flight plans as “general aviation” – therefore private, rather than commercial flights – and that none flew under an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC)
An AOC is a licence which charter companies obtain from the CAA – for a cost – and which provides a structure for the way they are run, including safety, flight operations, ground operations and maintenance, compliance and training.
Holders of AOCs range from small charter aircraft companies with just a couple of aircraft, to large airline companies, such as Easyjet and British Airways.
Without an AOC, BACA say there are strict regulations around how such a series of flights could be operated legally.
On 5 December, the Cardiff City contingent, along with the McKays, were flown from Stapleford in Essex to Nantes to see Sala play for Nantes against Marseilles.
G-KARE is operated by Surrey-based called Flexifly Aircraft Hire
The plane they flew on – a Pilatus PC-12 single engine aircraft with the registration G-KARE – is operated by a company called Flexifly Aircraft Hire Limited, based in Surrey and linked to a care home provider.
The G denotes a UK-registered plane, which can be hired from the company under a “dry lease” arrangement – whereby aircraft and pilot are hired separately.
Flexifly’s website stipulates that any pilot flying the plane must hold a commercial pilot’s licence with an instrument rating, have a minimum number of flying hours on the aircraft type behind them and “be approved by the owner before they are permitted to pilot the aircraft concerned”.
The next seven flights between 8-18 January – when Sala underwent a medical and signed for Cardiff City – were conducted by Channel Jets.
A legitimate air charter company based in Guernsey, Channel Jets does hold an AOC – but only planes registered in Guernsey can be included on this.
BBC Wales understands that the two jets used to fly various parties including Sala, his agent Meissa N’Diaye, Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock and club player liaison Callum Davies, Willie McKay and his son Mark on seven separate occasions in January did not fall under the AOC at the time.
Both planes were registered in America, which means they cannot be flown commercially in Europe without the express permission of US regulator, the Federal Aviation Authority, and the CAA.
The flights were listed on flight plans, as non-commercial.
BBC Wales has discovered that eight days after the plane carrying Sala crashed, one of these planes was de-registered in the US and re-registered as a Guernsey-based plane.
It was then placed on the company’s AOC.
Channel Jets have declined to comment beyond saying they had “provided full details to the CAA”.
After Sala had signed up to play for Cardiff City, his agent Mr N’Diaye was flown back to Nantes on 18 January by Lord George Porchester, who flies his own Piper Malibu plane under the company name Altaclara.
The son of the Earl of Caernarfon, whose family seat is used as a filming location for TV’s Downton Abbey, he holds a private pilot’s licence.
As the plane is registered in the US, it cannot be flown commercially in Europe and Lord Porchester can only fly passengers in the EU on a cost-sharing basis, not for reward.
Lord Porchester has told BBC Wales he flew Mr N’Diaye as a “favour” for Willie McKay and did not receive any payment for the flight.
“I’ve got my own aircraft and I flew that flight,” he said. “There was no financial arrangement at all with anyone, it was a private flight.”
He added: “I’ve been pulled into this because I’ve done someone a favour.”
The flights:
- 5 December 2018 – Flight from Stapleford in Essex to Nantes – carrying Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock, assistant manager Kevin Blackwell, Willie McKay and Mark McKay to see Emiliano Sala play against Marseilles
- 6 December – party returns from Nantes to Cardiff. Both flights made on G-KARE, operated by Surrey-based Flexifly Aircraft Hire Ltd
- 8 January 2019 – Flight from Cardiff to Nantes – carrying Neil Warnock, Cardiff City player liaison Callum Davies, Willie and Mark McKay to meet Sala and his agent. They’re flown back to Cardiff the same day. On N531EA, owned by Guernsey-based Channel Jets
- 14 January – Sala’s agent, Meissa N’Diaye, flown from Paris to Nantes. N’Diaye and Sala are flown from Nantes to Cardiff to have a look around the Cardiff City Stadium, returning to Nantes the same day. Mr N’Diaye is then flown back to Paris. All flights made on N843TE – owned by Channel Jets
- 18 January – Sala flies from Nantes to Cardiff for a medical and to sign his contract with Cardiff City. Via Channel Jets in N531EA. Sala’s agent Mr N’Diaye – who has travelled to Cardiff for the signing via a commercial flight – flown back to Paris by Lord George Porchester in his own aircraft, N14EF
- 19 January – Sala flown back to Nantes by David Ibbotson on N264DB to bid farewell to his Nantes team-mates and make personal arrangements. Mr Ibbotson books into a hotel to await the return leg of the journey – on 21 January – to deliver Sala back to Cardiff for his first training session
- 21 January – The flight leaves Nantes at 19:15 and disappears from radar around an hour into the journey.
Why are there calls for a wider investigation?
The Air Charter Association (Baca) feels there are sufficient questions around the way these flights were conducted to warrant an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority.
While the AAIB is investigating the crash which killed Sala and his pilot, it’s the CAA which investigates breaches of aviation regulations and licensing, and takes enforcement action where appropriate.
Our industry has always had this line that it would take one famous person to be killed in an aircraft accident for it to come to the fore
Dave Edwards, chief executive of Baca, said: “We did our research into these flights, we’ve identified which aircraft they were and the routes they flew, and that gave us rise for significant concern.
“There’s enough for us to feel that the authorities need to be looking very closely at this to make sure everyone is keeping the interests of the travelling public at the forefront of their minds.”
Mr Edwards said Baca had been voicing concerns about “grey” and illegal charters to the CAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) for several years.
‘Watershed’
They’ve passed their research on the flights connected to the Sala deal onto the CAA.
The demand for such non-commercial flights is driven by cost, he believes, with companies continuing to offer flights while dodging the high cost of air operator certificates and their knock-on effect on customers.
“What we’re seeing is a push towards making it more affordable, more attractive to people,” he said.
Baca says that the tragedy could prove a watershed moment for the aviation industry, as its longstanding concerns about safety and regulation of the non-commercial sector are pushed to the forefront of the agenda.
“Our industry has always had this line that it would take one famous person to be killed in an aircraft accident for it to come to the fore,” said Mr Edwards.
“It’s a tragedy, a horrible way for it to have happened, but sadly it’s brought it more into the public than just within the aviation industry.”
He added that Baca would like to see more prosecutions by the CAA of those who contravene licensing regulations, and stiffer sentences when offenders are prosecuted.
Willie McKay, who commissioned and paid for the flights around the Sala deal, and “aviation broker” David Henderson, who McKay says arranged the final flight which crashed, were both approached for comment on this story.
Is there a precedent for prosecution of those who breach aviation regulations?
Yes – and a recent one.
A pilot who overloaded a plane which crashed on take-off with three passengers inside was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Robert Murgatroyd, from Blackpool, wasconvicted in February following a three-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.
A jury found him guilty of recklessly endangering the safety of an aircraft and flying without an air operator’s certificate, appropriate licence, insurance or flight manual.
Although Murgatroyd, 52, held a private pilot’s licence, prosecutors told the jury that he was not allowed to run commercial flights, which in turn rendered his insurance null and void.
The court heard that he had charged three men £500 each to take them bird watching in Scotland in his Piper PA28 aircraft in September 2017.
Murgatroyd, who had several previous convictions for illegally operating public transport flights, had neglected to factor his own weight into the flight plan, causing the aircraft to be “grossly” overloaded.
‘Quick buck’
The plane came down on farmland shortly after taking off, narrowly missing the busy M62 and injuring two passengers.
In addition to a prison sentence, Murgatroyd’s pilot’s licence was revoked by the CAA.
Murgatroyd had denied the offences, claiming to be a “hero” for saving the lives of those on board.
The prosecution was pursued by Greater Manchester Police serious collision investigation unit.
Senior investigator, Sergeant Lee Westhead, said after the case: “Make no mistake, this could easily have been a truly terrible disaster, all caused because one man saw an opportunity to make a quick buck.
“His passenger weren’t to know their pilot was flouting the law and had failed to take the appropriate safety measures.”
Dozens of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes in central and south Gaza as Red Sea tensions rise.
Here’s how things stand on Monday, January 15, 2024:
Latest updates and human impact
- Israeli attacks continue unabated overnight killing and wounding dozens of civilians in central and southern Gaza. At least 22 people were killed and a large number injured as a result of Israeli forces targeting al-Thalatheni Street in the central Gaza Strip.
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an antiship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea, which was shot down by a US fighter jet, announced US Central Command (CENTCOM) on X.
- This was the first US-acknowledged Houthi attack since the US strikes on Yemen on Friday.
- Hamas released a 37-second video showing three Israeli captives held in Gaza on Sunday, saying they would reveal the fate of the captives on Monday and urging the Israeli government to stop the offensive.
- The Israeli military says it has shifted to a new phase of the war focused on the southern end of Gaza, where almost 2 million internally displaced Palestinians are running out of safe spaces to shelter.
- The Gaza Ministry of Health has said almost 24,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive. More than 60,000 people have been wounded in 100 days of war.
Diplomacy
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- The White House said on Sunday that “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
- Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said in a statement on Sunday that one of the biggest obstacles to the timely delivery of sufficient aid to Gaza was Israeli inspection of the aid. The statement came after Israel blamed Cairo for the delay in aid delivery to Gaza during its defence at the ICJ.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on X on Monday, calling for the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza on the 100th day since they were taken by Hamas. He did not mention the Palestinian casualties.
- Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who described herself as a “friend of Israel” to the press, will travel to Jordan, Israel, the occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Arab Emirates this week, her office said on Monday.
West Bank raids and violence
- Israeli forces arrested 25 students staging a sit-in in protest against high tuition fees at An-Najah University in Nablus. Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut reported that the protesting students received a text message from Israeli forces telling them to “surrender now”.
- Israeli forces have reportedly raided the family home of Nael al-Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, in the village of Kobar, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
- The Israeli army said on Friday that it killed three Palestinian men who infiltrated a West Bank settlement and fired upon soldiers.
- The Israeli military killed two Palestinians after accusing them of ramming their car through a checkpoint near Hebron.
- Local sources reported that Israeli forces bulldozed two Palestinian-owned houses during a Sunday midnight raid in the city of Qalqilya, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
- Armed Israeli settlers broke into the village of Burin, south of Nablus, and attacked Palestinian residents’ houses and properties after midnight on Sunday, Wafa reported.
- “Violent raids and arrests have become part of the fabric of daily life in the occupied West Bank,” Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said. At least 347 Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been arrested since October 7.
Flames and smoke billow during Israeli attacks against Gaza on October 9, 2023
Human Rights Watch terms Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s call for a ‘complete siege’ on Gaza a ‘war crime’.
The Hamas movement has threatened to kill an Israeli hostage every time Israel bombs a Palestinian home without warning as Israel mobilised some 300,000 reservists and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, denying the enclave’s millions of residents access to food, water and fuel.
The warning from Hamas came on Monday as the death toll from the armed group’s surprise weekend attack climbed to 900 in Israel and revenge attacks by Israeli forces on the besieged Gaza Strip killed more than 700 people and left some 3,700 others wounded.
Residential apartment blocks, hospitals, schools and a mosque have been among the sites attacked by Israeli fighter jets, artillery and drones, according to media reports and witnesses.
Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida issued the threat to kill Israelis from the dozens held captive by the armed group. He said an Israeli hostage would be killed for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said more than 100 people were taken captive by Hamas during the deadly cross-border incursion over the weekend.
As Israeli forces conducted intense retaliatory attacks on Gaza on Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant drew international condemnation by announcing a total blockade of the densely populated and besieged enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people.
Gallant said Israel would impose a “complete siege” on Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply distressed” by the siege announcement and warned that Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation will now “only deteriorate exponentially”.
Guterres also said some 137,000 people were taking shelter with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at schools across Gaza.
UNRWA said on Tuesday that almost 190,000 people have been displaced in Gaza amid the Israeli attacks and the figure is expected to grow further as the violence intensifies.
Nearly half a million people have also not received food rations this week in Gaza as UN food distribution centres have been forced to remain closed amid the Israeli onslaught, UNRWA said.
Human Rights Watch said Israel’s total blockade on the necessities of life for everyday people in Gaza was a war crime.
“Defense Minister Gallant’s statements are abhorrent,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“Depriving the population in an occupied territory of food and electricity is collective punishment, which is a war crime, as is using starvation as a weapon of war. The International Criminal Court should take note of this call to commit a war crime,” he said.
Abhorrent. This is a call to commit a war crime by @yoavgallant. The @IntlCrimCourt should take note.
Quote by @OmarSShakir ⤵️ https://t.co/kKVo6YtpI1 pic.twitter.com/neHQMwnXVn
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 9, 2023
Shakir also condemned the threat by Hamas to kill hostages, warning that such action was also a war crime.
“All hostages should be safely released to their families,” he said.
Grotesque. These threatened acts would amount to flagrant war crimes by Hamas’ armed wing. The @IntlCrimCourt will be watching.
Quote from @OmarSShakir ⤵️ https://t.co/FuNtvHe0YG pic.twitter.com/6cnHODLWyZ
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 9, 2023
On the diplomatic front, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Hamas and Israel to immediately end violence and protect civilians, the Egyptian presidency said.
Erdogan urged Israel against “indiscriminately” attacking civilians and delivered measured criticism of Hamas, urging both sides to respect the “ethics” of war.
The United Kingdom, French, German, Italian and US governments issued a joint statement on Monday recognising the “legitimate aspirations” of the Palestinian people and supporting equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
But the prospect that fighting could spread also alarmed the region and the world.
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in response to at least three of its members being killed in Israeli shelling of Lebanon.
Israel said one of its deputy commanders was also killed in an earlier cross-border raid from Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the US, September 20, 2023
Social media users, including journalists and observers, are calling out what they call a ‘double standard’.
After Saturday’s surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to the social media platform X to offer “condolences go out to everyone who lost relatives or close ones in the terrorist attack”.
He also stated, “Israel’s right to self-defence is unquestionable.”
Many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, shared similar sentiments.
The world is seeing appalling images.
Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli cities. Hamas terrorists killing not only Israeli soldiers, but civilians on the streets and in their homes.
It’s unconscionable. Israel has a right to defend itself – full stop.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 7, 2023
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, “Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel.”
Accusations of Western ‘double standards’
Some social media users have criticised these statements, saying they highlight a double standard.
The world is seeing appalling images.
Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli cities. Hamas terrorists killing not only Israeli soldiers, but civilians on the streets and in their homes.
It’s unconscionable. Israel has a right to defend itself – full stop.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 7, 2023
Ukraine’s right to defend itself is praised by most international leaders while Russia’s invasion is condemned, but commentators said the same cannot be said about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Aaron Bastani, a leftist British journalist, said on X that there’s a “clear double standard in endorsing terrorism against civilian targets in Ukraine … and condemning it by Palestinians”.
Many users said Western diplomats and media support the Ukrainians who defend their land, but label the Palestinians fighting against Israel as “terrorists”.
https://twitter.com/KhaledBeydoun/status/1710787817415082349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710787817415082349%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
An illustration of a woman’s face, in which one eye is closed beside a Palestinian flag, and one eye open beside a Ukrainian flag, has been regularly shared as a symbol of the West’s alleged double standards in how the two conflicts are viewed.
https://twitter.com/OnlinePalEng/status/1710994682883273172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710994682883273172%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
Clips also emerged on social media from a CNN interview with Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, in which he posed the rhetorical question, “Why does the United States support Ukraine in fighting occupation – while here they support the occupier, who continues to occupy us?”
The hypocrisy and double standards of western governments and media platforms dealing with situations in Ukraine-Russia and Palestine-Israel blow the mind. Absolute disgrace.
— Said Yacoubi (@AlyacoubiSaid) October 8, 2023
It is not the first time Western nations have been accused of double standards in their stance on the Ukraine war.
Earlier in the year, Amnesty International published a report highlighting the West’s “double standards” on global human rights.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, told Al Jazeera at the time that the occupation of Palestinian territory was a “particularly important one”.
“Without making any comparison between Russia’s aggression and Israel … it is clear the Palestinian people are under a regime of oppression – a regime of occupation and a regime of apartheid,” Callamard told Al Jazeera.
Over the last three days, X users recirculated earlier statements calling out what they called Western hypocrisy, sharing video by the Irish lawmaker Richard Boyd Barrett from March 2022 in which he berated the Irish government’s double standards regarding Ukraine and Palestine:
“You’re happy to use the most strong and robust language to describe the crimes against humanity of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, but you will not use the same strength of language when it comes to describing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.”
Barrett on Sunday again called out what he described as “shocking double standards of Western leaders supporting Ukraine resistance but condemning Palestinian[s].”
Meanwhile, others warned against comparing conflicts.
https://twitter.com/denfordauthor/status/1710993737738768607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710993737738768607%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
And some cautioned that Hamas and the Palestinians should not be seen as one and the same.
Just to clarify:
Palestine did not mount an attack on Israel. An Iranian proxy militia did. Palestinians are by and large huddled in their homes praying that an Israeli airstrike won't kill them or theirs. Hamas is the culprit here. This isn't a decentralized grassroots thing.
— Romeo Kokriatski (@VagrantJourno) October 9, 2023
Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, who plays for Arsenal, posted on Instagram, stating he “stands with Israel”.
Zinchenko has been a vocal supporter of his home country in its ongoing defence against Russia, and he participated in a Game4Ukraine charity match in London earlier this year to raise money for Ukraine.
After online backlash, with some questioning an alleged double standard in his support of Israel, the footballer removed the post and switched his social media account to private.
Several people claimed that Zinchenko’s football club, in not responding to his comments, was guilty of hypocrisy after they had distanced themselves from former player Mesut Ozil’s comments in 2019 over alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in China.
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