Emiliano Sala inquest: Coroner apologises for delay

Emiliano Sala had just signed with Cardiff City

A full inquest into the deaths of footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson will not take place until March 2021.

A plane carrying 28-year-old striker Sala from Nantes, France, to his new club Cardiff City crashed into the English Channel on 21 January 2019.

A coroner has apologised after Sala's family called delays "unacceptable".

Dorset's senior coroner Rachael Griffin said the delays were due to an ongoing Civil Aviation Authority probe.

She provisionally scheduled the inquest to take place from 8 March to 9 April 2021, with four pre-inquest reviews to be held at Bournemouth Town Hall.

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Ms Griffin said: "I'm very sorry to the families for the impact that delay will have."

She added: "Unfortunately we are in a difficult situation because there are ongoing investigations, namely by the CAA, that are very relevant to my investigation and the inquest process.

"I would ask the CAA to work as quickly as possible, for the impact on Emiliano's family and Mr Ibbotson's family."

David Ibbotson's body has not been found

Matthew Reeve, representing Sala's family, said the timetable for the CAA's investigation was "inexplicably languid".

He added: "The delay is, frankly, unacceptable.

"Emiliano's family have instructed me that they dearly and earnestly wish for the earliest possible hearing date."

Mr Ibbotson's wife Nora said: "The CAA have had quite long enough time to get their information together from what they have got from the police and Air Accidents Investigation Branch."

Charles Curtis, representing the CAA, said its investigation was still ongoing and it would consider criminal regulatory charges at its conclusion, which could take until the end of the year, but confirmed it was not looking at "homicide or murder" offences.

He said: "I hope there hasn't been a misunderstanding that the CAA is only starting its investigation now. We now have primacy."

Emiliano Sala was on board a plane bound for Cardiff from Nantes when it disappeared from radar

The Piper Malibu N264DB carrying Sala and pilot Mr Ibbotson went missing over waters near the Channel Islands.

It took rescuers two weeks to find the wreckage. Sala's body was recovered on 8 February after a private rescue team took over the search.

The body of Mr Ibbotson, from Crowle in Lincolnshire, has never been found.

'Flown too fast'

Det Insp Simon Huxter, of Dorset Police, confirmed no charges would be brought by the police in the UK in relation to the accident.

A final report by the AAIB released last week concluded that the single-engine aircraft suffered an in-flight break-up while being flown too fast for its design limits.

It added that Mr Ibbotson was probably affected by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Investigators found a contributory factor in the crash was Mr Ibbotson having no training in night flying, and a lack of recent practice in relying only on cockpit instruments to control a plane.

And they found that he held a private pilot's licence that did not allow him to conduct flights for reward.