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“ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Thu Mar 14, 2019 9:07 pm

Emiliano Sala pilot David Ibbotson faced court order over debts days before flight

Mr Ibbotson flew the plane carrying Emiliano Sala

Thursday 14th March 2019

Media Wales / Katie Sands

Pilot David Ibbotson was handed a fifth court order just days before the fateful flight which killed footballer Emiliano Sala.

Mr Ibbotson, 59, remains unaccounted for more than six weeks after the Piper PA-46 Malibu initially vanished from radar before its wreckage was found almost a fortnight later on the bottom of the English Channel.

Documents reveal Mr Ibbotson was handed a county court judgment ordering him to pay £4,413 on January 11.

That was 10 days before the flight from Nantes, which was headed for Cardiff for Sala to begin his new life in the Premier League.

The ruling, made at a court in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, does not name the company or person owed the cash.

Mr Ibbotson faced the prospect of bailiffs over debts totalling more than £23,000.

His finances were laid bare in four other county court judgments made against him in Northampton.

He was battling a £13,600 Barclaycard bill that had been passed over to a collection agency after he defaulted on credit card payments.

He was also being chased by a second debt enforcer over £4,345 owed to Bank of Scotland.

Mr Ibbotson was also handed a county court judgement over an unpaid Yorkshire Water bill.

And a court order for £267 was handed over to credit chasers in 2015 over missed Orange phone contract payments.

All remain outstanding, the paperwork confirms.




The father was ferrying £15m Cardiff City signing Sala from Nantes when the plane came down over the Channel on January 21 while on its way to Cardiff.

After the wreckage was located almost a fortnight later, the Argentine striker's body was recovered, with his funeral taking place in Argentina last month.

Official investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Branch found no trace of Mr Ibbotson, and a second privately-funded search - led by the marine scientist who located the underwater wreckage - also found no trace of the pilot.

An official interim report was released by investigators last month showing the final moments of the plane and showed it was so extensively damaged it was found in three parts, as well as raising questions over the lawfulness of the flight.

We know the Piper Malibu aircraft was able to be flown by private pilots holding the appropriate licence - Mr Ibbotson held a private pilot's licence - but the plane was not allowed to be used for commercial operations without prior permission from the FAA and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The report said: "At the time of writing there was no evidence that such permission had been sought or granted... The CAA advised the AAIB that they had no record of an application for permission to operate the aircraft commercially.

"The basis on which the passenger was being carried on N264DB has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of ‘cost sharing'."

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:17 pm

Are they still searching for him in some way or have they given up ? He had big debt problems as you have posted Annis. :bluebird:

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:47 am

I don't really see the relevance of his debt problems to be honest, they are just in someway trying to prove that he recieved money for the flight, however to date there is no evidence of this.

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:51 am

Rodneyblue wrote:Are they still searching for him in some way or have they given up ? He had big debt problems as you have posted Annis. :bluebird:



I believe Rodney they have stopped searching,

Massive debts, I think the media are trying to say he might of been unstable due to his debts and not fit and proper to fly the plane.

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:55 pm

Cardiffcitymad wrote:I don't really see the relevance of his debt problems to be honest, they are just in someway trying to prove that he recieved money for the flight, however to date there is no evidence of this.


I don't blame Cardiff, Nantes, Mckay or the pilot. And whether he was paid or not is irrelevant as to whether the plane crashed or not.

However I think it points to a person in dire need of money and its stretching credibility to think he did it for nothing.

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:09 pm

JJ1927 wrote:
Cardiffcitymad wrote:I don't really see the relevance of his debt problems to be honest, they are just in someway trying to prove that he recieved money for the flight, however to date there is no evidence of this.


I don't blame Cardiff, Nantes, Mckay or the pilot. And whether he was paid or not is irrelevant as to whether the plane crashed or not.

However I think it points to a person in dire need of money and its stretching credibility to think he did it for nothing.


The problem is not that he had debt. Many people have debt.
The problem is that he had 5 court orders. The man was not clean at all. That coupled with the fact that he was hired by McKay and his death threats and other bankruptcies... Well you get something that smells worse and worse.

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Fri Mar 15, 2019 10:18 pm

JJ1927 wrote:
Cardiffcitymad wrote:I don't really see the relevance of his debt problems to be honest, they are just in someway trying to prove that he recieved money for the flight, however to date there is no evidence of this.


I don't blame Cardiff, Nantes, Mckay or the pilot. And whether he was paid or not is irrelevant as to whether the plane crashed or not.

However I think it points to a person in dire need of money and its stretching credibility to think he did it for nothing.



I agree but its also a stretch to think that money earned from this was going to scratch the surface of the above.

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:50 am

Cardiffcitymad wrote:I don't really see the relevance of his debt problems to be honest, they are just in someway trying to prove that he recieved money for the flight, however to date there is no evidence of this.


There is an elephant in the room here in how did all his debt problems affect his mental health or his competence?

He wouldn't have been the first person to take his own life because of spiralling debt or the stress could have affected his flying ability.

I don't know if either is the reason for what happened but the death of ES is becoming an extraordinary circumstance and these debts only add to this.

Re: “ The latest on Emiliano Sala’s Pilot “

Sun Mar 17, 2019 7:33 am

Tony Blue Williams wrote:
Cardiffcitymad wrote:I don't really see the relevance of his debt problems to be honest, they are just in someway trying to prove that he recieved money for the flight, however to date there is no evidence of this.


There is an elephant in the room here in how did all his debt problems affect his mental health or his competence?

He wouldn't have been the first person to take his own life because of spiralling debt or the stress could have affected his flying ability.

I don't know if either is the reason for what happened but the death of ES is becoming an extraordinary circumstance and these debts only add to this.

I didn't look at it that way but then again why make a radio call requesting to decend when he could have just flown into something?
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