The 28-year-old Argentine striker, Emiliano Sala, went missing since Monday night while he was on his flight back to Cardiff to join his new team, Cardiff City. The Nantes striker was signed for a record-breaking fee of £15 million, after which, he visited the French side to bid his last farewell before joining the Premier League outlet on Tuesday. On his way back to the airport, Nicolas Pallois, Sala’s close friend and teammate at Nantes drove him to the airport where he expressed that he had an unpleasant ride while coming to France from Cardiff following his unveiling as a player. He expressed that he was panicky of the forthcoming fearful journey with the same aircraft. He boarded the Single Engine Piper PA-46 Malibu Aircraft chartered by the club, which was destined to fly him to a new start.
It is noted, the lightweight aircraft had three failed attempts before it took off from France at 7:15 PM for its journey back till Cardiff. It went missing from radar around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the island of Guernsey on Monday night. "After all this time the weather's quite cold, the water is very cold out there ... I am not expecting anyone to be alive," Channel Islands Air Search chief officer John Fitzgerald earlier told The Associated Press. The Piper Malibu was flying at 2,300 sq ft above sea level until it was requested by the aviation authorities to descent, where out of nowhere, the aircraft lost contact and vanished in the atmosphere. Britain’s coast guard received an alert at 8:23 PM on Monday from air traffic control after repeated failures to get in touch with the Piper PA-46 plane carrying Emiliano and another official. A search operation was immediately made in effect as 2 aircraft and 5 coast guard vessels carried on the operation, "So far over 1000 square miles have been searched by a total of five aircraft and two lifeboats. There has been no trace of the aircraft," they said earlier. Later that day, Guernsey police said "a number of floating objects have been seen in the water" however they failed to assure that the objects were from the missing aircraft and that they have "found no signs of those on board." After no signs of assurance, "The search was terminated at 2 am, with all search and rescue assets being stood down, due to strengthening winds, worsening sea conditions and reducing visibility," Guernsey police said. Later this morning, the search was not rescheduled due to bad weather conditions and fewer chances of tracing the lost travellers.
The striker started to move forward towards reaching the pinnacle of his playing career through the record-breaking signing as it all took a few moments to change everything, funny how life can change within a few minutes, isn’t it? As reported by some Argentine news sites, Sala contacted his friends over WhatsApp while he had already embarked on the disastrous journey, “I’m here on a plane that looks like it’s about to fall apart, and I’m going to Cardiff, crazy, tomorrow we already start, and in the afternoon, we start training, boys, in my new team…’’ read the message. He further explained, "If in an hour and a half you have no news from me, I don’t know if they are going to send someone to look for me because they cannot find me, but you know … Dad, how scared am I!” wrote the man himself, before he left the entire world agitated.
A powerful and a direct player, Sala had 19 appearances for Nantes before he was finalized on a deal to ply his trade for Cardiff. He was the fifth highest scorer in the French League with 12 goals to his name, one behind Neymar, the most expensive player in the world. "I can't wait to start training, meet my new teammates and get down to work," Sala said in a video posted on the club's website.
A huge loss for the entire football circuit, as the world, waits for the last confirmation, just like fans wait for a last-minute equalizer in a title-deciding match. On the other hand, Leicester City first played against Cardiff after they lost their club president Vichai on a similar aircraft disaster.
Video: Emiliano Sala's audio message before suspected plane crash
The 28-year-old Argentine striker, Emiliano Sala, went missing since Monday night while he was on his flight back to Cardiff to join his new team, Cardiff City. The Nantes striker was signed for a record-breaking fee of £15 million, after which, he visited the French side to bid his last farewell before joining the Premier League outlet on Tuesday. On his way back to the airport, Nicolas Pallois, Sala’s close friend and teammate at Nantes drove him to the airport where he expressed that he had an unpleasant ride while coming to France from Cardiff following his unveiling as a player. He expressed that he was panicky of the forthcoming fearful journey with the same aircraft. He boarded the Single Engine Piper PA-46 Malibu Aircraft chartered by the club, which was destined to fly him to a new start.
It is noted, the lightweight aircraft had three failed attempts before it took off from France at 7:15 PM for its journey back till Cardiff. It went missing from radar around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the island of Guernsey on Monday night. "After all this time the weather's quite cold, the water is very cold out there ... I am not expecting anyone to be alive," Channel Islands Air Search chief officer John Fitzgerald earlier told The Associated Press. The Piper Malibu was flying at 2,300 sq ft above sea level until it was requested by the aviation authorities to descent, where out of nowhere, the aircraft lost contact and vanished in the atmosphere. Britain’s coast guard received an alert at 8:23 PM on Monday from air traffic control after repeated failures to get in touch with the Piper PA-46 plane carrying Emiliano and another official. A search operation was immediately made in effect as 2 aircraft and 5 coast guard vessels carried on the operation, "So far over 1000 square miles have been searched by a total of five aircraft and two lifeboats. There has been no trace of the aircraft," they said earlier. Later that day, Guernsey police said "a number of floating objects have been seen in the water" however they failed to assure that the objects were from the missing aircraft and that they have "found no signs of those on board." After no signs of assurance, "The search was terminated at 2 am, with all search and rescue assets being stood down, due to strengthening winds, worsening sea conditions and reducing visibility," Guernsey police said. Later this morning, the search was not rescheduled due to bad weather conditions and fewer chances of tracing the lost travellers.
The striker started to move forward towards reaching the pinnacle of his playing career through the record-breaking signing as it all took a few moments to change everything, funny how life can change within a few minutes, isn’t it? As reported by some Argentine news sites, Sala contacted his friends over WhatsApp while he had already embarked on the disastrous journey, “I’m here on a plane that looks like it’s about to fall apart, and I’m going to Cardiff, crazy, tomorrow we already start, and in the afternoon, we start training, boys, in my new team…’’ read the message. He further explained, "If in an hour and a half you have no news from me, I don’t know if they are going to send someone to look for me because they cannot find me, but you know … Dad, how scared am I!” wrote the man himself, before he left the entire world agitated.
A powerful and a direct player, Sala had 19 appearances for Nantes before he was finalized on a deal to ply his trade for Cardiff. He was the fifth highest scorer in the French League with 12 goals to his name, one behind Neymar, the most expensive player in the world. "I can't wait to start training, meet my new teammates and get down to work," Sala said in a video posted on the club's website.
A huge loss for the entire football circuit, as the world, waits for the last confirmation, just like fans wait for a last-minute equalizer in a title-deciding match. On the other hand, Leicester City first played against Cardiff after they lost their club president Vichai on a similar aircraft disaster.
Video: Emiliano Sala
