Emiliano Sala: Agent 'may have let unqualified pilot fly player'

David Henderson was the aircraft's operator since it was bought in 2015

A football agent may have let the flight in which Emiliano Sala died go ahead, even if he knew the pilot was unqualified, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Plane operator David Henderson told a jury agent William "Willie" McKay had a "preoccupation" with getting a pilot for the Cardiff-Nantes journey.

Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, died when the private plane crashed.

Mr Henderson, 67, of Hotham, East Riding, Yorkshire, denies endangering an aircraft's safety.

The plane plunged into the English Channel in January 2019.

Argentine striker Sala was involved in a multimillion-pound transfer to Cardiff City from Nantes and was travelling between the two clubs at the time of his death.

The court previously heard Mr McKay - who helped arrange Sala's flight - and Mr Henderson had a working relationship, and Mr McKay got in touch to hire the plane.

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Mr Henderson, a pilot himself, could not fly the plane as he was holidaying in Paris with his wife.

Mr Ibbotson, who Mr Henderson hired, did not hold a commercial pilot's licence, was not allowed to fly at night, and had an expired rating to fly the single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft.

Emiliano Sala's body was recovered, but Mr Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, has never been found

On Monday, Stephen Spence, defending, asked Mr Henderson if he believed Mr McKay would have cared about Mr Ibbotson's lack of qualifications.

Mr Henderson said: "His preoccupation was to get where he wanted to go.

"I don't know if he wouldn't have cared, but as I say, his preoccupation was to get a pilot. I think he would have gone ahead with the flight anyway."

On Friday, Martin Goudie QC, prosecuting, asked Mr Henderson whether he thought Mr McKay and Sala had a right to know if the pilot was qualified.

Mr Goudie accused Mr Henderson of running a "cowboy outfit" after he admitted not keeping basic information on the pilots he employed.

The Piper Malibu aircraft in which the two men died

The defendant is said to have been the plane's operator because he was in charge of its maintenance and hiring out for the aircraft's owner, Fay Keely.

He has already pleaded guilty to another charge of attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation.

The trial continues.