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Emiliano Sala: man who organised fatal flight ‘knew pilot was unqualified’

A plane operator who organised the flight in which the footballer Emiliano Sala was killed knew the pilot was not qualified to fly at night and was not competent in bad weather, a jury has been told.

The court heard that when David Henderson was told the plane piloted by David Ibbotson had crashed into the sea he messaged a friend: “Ibbo has crashed the Malibu and killed himself and VIP pax [passenger]! Bloody disaster. There will be an enquiry.”

He told another contact: “Opens up a whole can of worms. Keep very quiet”. And he sent a note to the plane’s engineer: “Don’t say a word to anyone.”

The single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft was flying the 28-year-old Argentinian striker from Nantes in France to Wales, where he was to join Cardiff City, then a Premier League side.

It crashed on 21 January 2019 north of Guernsey. Sala’s body was recovered from the seabed the following month, but neither the body of Ibbotson, 59, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, nor the plane’s wreckage have been recovered.

Henderson, 67, of Hotham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, denies acting in a reckless or negligent manner likely to endanger the aircraft. The court heard how Henderson, himself a pilot, was not available to fly the aircraft himself as he was away with his wife in Paris.

The jury at Cardiff crown court heard that the football agent Willie McKay asked Henderson to arrange for Sala to be flown from Nantes to the UK. Henderson sent McKay a note: “Can you ping me over £4k as float?”

Martin Goudie QC told the jury that Henderson organised for Ibbotson to carry Sala even though he did not have a commercial pilot’s licence and he was not competent to fly in poor weather.

Goudie said: “Mr Henderson acted either negligently or recklessly in a manner that was likely to endanger [the plane] and those on it. He ignored certain requirements when it suited him and his business interests.”

The jury was told there were issues with Ibbotson’s flying the year before the tragedy. A message from a friend to Henderson in the summer of 2018 after a flight involving the pilot read: “The Ibbotson experience was interesting! He was all over the place.”

In an exchange of messages between Henderson and Ibbotson at around the same time, the operator wrote: “We both have an opportunity to make money out of the business model but not if we upset clients or draw the attention of the CAA [the Civil Aviation Authority].”

On the morning of 19 January Henderson raised the issue of bad weather with Ibbotson. The pilot flew to Nantes and informed Henderson he had had difficulties with the plane. The time for the flight back to Cardiff was pushed back to after dark on 21 January.

Goudie said: “He [Henderson] raised no issue with Mr Ibbotson flying at such a time even though he knew full well Mr Ibbotson was not qualified to fly at night.”

At 9.23pm the coastguard spoke to Henderson about the crash. He quickly contacted engineer David Smith and told him: “Don’t say a word to anyone.”

Goudie said: “The wording of this message was interesting – it’s not: ‘Isn’t it a disaster someone we’ve been working with has gone missing’; it is instead just: “Don’t say a word to anyone’.”

The prosecutor said Ibbotson had never held a commercial pilot’s licence, so he should not have been paid for being a pilot. Nor did he have a “night rating”, required for a flight to be flown between half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise

The trial continues.

News

EFCC seals Kaduna hotel for breaching money laundering act

The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, of the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has sealed up Hampton Hilton Hotel and Apartments, Kaduna, for non-compliance with the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations of the Financial Action Task Force, FATF for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, DNFBPs.

The entity was found to have committed multiple infractions in the course of the first evaluation carried out on it, on June 4, 2024, leading to the issuance of administrative sanctions to it by SCUML.

It was also found to have committed further infractions following the compliance evaluation of June 13, 2025, for which it was slammed N2,300,000.00 (Two Million Three Hundred Thousand Naira) fine, payable within seven days and with instruction to ensure full compliance with the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and AML/CFT regulations or face further consequences.

While it refused to pay the fine, it, as well, dishonoured SCUML’s invite to show up for compliance evaluation, resulting in the sealing of the premises.

The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, ensures DNFBPs’ compliance with Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and AML/CFT regulations.

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Buhari could have long been dead if he had chosen to be treated in Nigeria -Fmr aide Adesina

Former spokesperson to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Adesina, has defended the decision of late President Buhari to always seek medical attention abroad before and after he left office.

In a chat with Channels TV this morning, Adesina who served as the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Buhari said;

‘’Buhari always had his medical in London, even when he was not in office. So, it’s not about the time he was president alone. He had always had it in London and then, you have to be alive first to get certain things corrected in your country. If he had said, ‘I will do my medical in Nigeria just as a show-off or something,’ he could have long been dead because there may not be the expertise needed in the country but he needed to be alive to lead the country to a point where we will have that expertise”

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Buhari’s body arrives in Daura from Katsina for final burial

The remains of Nigeria’s former President, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has arrived in his hometown of Daura from Katsina ahead of his burial later today.

The body, which was flown into the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina from the United Kingdom earlier in the day, was received with full state protocol by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda, and members of the late president’s family.

From the airport, the late leader’s remains were transported by a specially prepared ambulance under tight security to Daura, a journey marked by solemnity and respect, with hundreds of residents lining parts of the route to pay their final respects.

Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s Head of State from 1983 to 1985 and returned as a democratically elected president from 2015 to 2023, died in London on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at the age of 82 after a brief illness.

According to Islamic tradition, he will be buried later today at his private residence in Daura.

Dignitaries, traditional rulers, political leaders, and sympathizers from across Nigeria have already gathered in Daura for the Janazah prayers and final interment, with security operatives deployed across the ancient town to ensure a peaceful ceremony