Emiliano Sala flight organiser denies distress call ban

Emiliano Sala's inquest is expected to last up to five weeks

The businessman who illegally organised the fatal flight for footballer Emiliano Sala has denied discouraging the pilot from making distress calls.

The Argentine striker died alongside pilot David Ibbotson, 59, when their Piper Malibu crashed in January 2019.

The 28-year-old had been flying to Wales from France to join Cardiff City from Nantes.

David Henderson was asked about a message to the pilot to try to avoid incidents that might hurt his business.

The plane crashed into the English Channel close to Alderney on Guernsey on January 21 2019 following Mr Sala's £15m transfer from the Ligue 1 side.

An inquest at Bournemouth Coroner's Court heard evidence from Henderson, a pilot and businessman who managed the Piper Malibu, and who arranged for Mr Ibbotson to fly it.

• Emiliano Sala under pressure before death, inquest hears

• Cardiff City official 'too scared' to arrange flight

• Agent denies knowing Sala flights were illegal

The jury learned that Henderson was convicted of endangering the safety of an aircraft for using Mr Ibbotson's services when he knew he did not have the relevant licences.

He was jailed for 18 months in October for that offence and for attempting to discharge a passenger without valid permission or authorisation.

He did not have an air operator's certificate (AOC) that would have allowed him to fly paying passengers and Mr Ibbotson did not have the training to fly at night.

It is the first time in the inquest into Mr Sala's death that the jury has been told about the earlier criminal proceedings.

David Henderson is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence

Giving evidence via video link, Henderson denied asking Mr Ibbotson not to issue "pan pan calls" in order to avoid his business dealings coming to the attention of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

A pan pan call is used to alert air traffic control to urgent but non-life threatening situations.

On the outbound flight to Nantes on January 19, Mr Ibbotson did not tell authorities about a loud bang from the aircraft.

Matthew Reeve, for Mr Sala's family, asked Mr Henderson about a message to the pilot in July 2018 telling him to try to avoid incidents that would result in a mandatory report being made to the CAA.

Mr Reeve asked if this instruction also extended to avoiding making pan pan calls.

"I would not be giving any guidance on whether to put out a pan pan call or a mayday," Henderson said.

He added that if the aircraft continued to fly normally, there would be no reason to make such a call.

Henderson said he only wanted Mr Ibbotson to fly "accurately and carefully" and denied "instructing" him not to put out distress signals.

"You didn't want anyone looking at how you were running these flights because you knew they were illegal," Mr Reeve said.

Henderson said it would have been up to Mr Ibbotson to ground the plane if he thought it was not safe to fly and claimed he had forgotten he could not fly at night.

In one message to Mr Ibbotson he asked him if he could "blag" knowledge of the rules governing flights landing at Cardiff Airport.

The wreckage of the plane was found a month after the crash

As well as not having an AOC, the court heard Henderson kept no records or invoices for his business, or the qualifications of the pilots who flew for him.

Cathryn McGahey QC, for Cardiff City, said that by accepting payment, "every time Mr Ibbotson flew for you he was doing so illegally".

The inquest has heard Mr Sala was overcome by toxic levels of carbon monoxide poisoning prior to dying from severe head and chest injuries consistent with a plane crash.

On Wednesday, the jury was told that Mr Ibbotson had been barred from flying the Piper Malibu by its owner after receiving two notices of airspace infringements from the CAA, but continued to fly it without her knowledge.

The inquest continues.