Emiliano Sala made two phone calls in which he said the plane he was on felt like it was “falling to pieces” before it disappeared.
Cardiff City’s new striker Emiliano Sala was on board a light aircraft that disappeared en route to the Welsh capital where he was to join up with the English Premier League team, France’s civil aviation authority says — and his tragic final messages have been revealed.
Argentine Sala was flying from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff when the plane lost radar contact off the English Channel island Guernsey late on Monday. Rescue aircraft and boats scoured more than 2600 square km of sea for the single-engine Piper Malibu on Tuesday.
Audio recordings of WhatsApp messages Sala sent to friends have reportedly been uncovered where he says he’s scared of being on a plane that feels like it’s “falling to pieces” and asks people to send help if they don’t hear from him..
According to The Daily Mail, Sala called friends and said in Spanish: “Hey guys, how is it going? Brother, I am really tired now. I was over in Nantes sorting things out, doing this, doing that.
Another call was made later where Sala reportedly said: “How are you guys, all good?
As night fell, search operations were suspended. Police said they will resume at sunrise on Wednesday but tragically, are not expecting any survivors.
Sala and one other person were on board.
“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 told The Associated Press.
“We just don’t know how it disappeared at the end of yesterday. It just completely vanished.
“The plane was flying at 2000ft when it dropped off the radar so it could have flown for about five or six miles (eight to nine km) before touching down.
According to The Sun, Sala made a chilling premonition about his flight a few days before his departure. He reportedly told Nantes teammate Nicolas Pallois the trip to France to say goodbye to his old club was “bumpy and he feared his safety for the return back to the UK”, according to French media.
“If they did land on the water, the chances of survival are at this stage, unfortunately, slim,” Guernsey Police said.
Yesterday Sala shared a picture on Instagram with other players at Nantes’ team training ground.
The caption read: “The last goodbye”.
Forward Sala, 28, joined Premier League strugglers Cardiff from FC Nantes last week for a club record fee of about $AUD27 million. He had played in France since 2012.
Tuesday’s training session was called off.
France’s football federation postponed Nantes’s French Cup last-32 game against Entente Sannois-Saint Gratien that was scheduled for Wednesday.
Cardiff City’s stunned supporters joined club officials in praying for a miracle on Tuesday with the Premier League club’s record signing Sala feared dead after his plane disappeared over the Channel Islands.
Sala was one of the top three goalscorers in France this season, which “just showed what a talented player we were signing and what he was to bring to the club”, Thomas said.
Morgan said fans from “the wider football community” have been getting in touch to offer their sympathies and support to the club.
“I think fans realise what’s important and things like this put everything into perspective. Football is important in all our lives but not more than a person’s life,” he said.
The club’s players were informed of the news at the training ground on Tuesday morning and the management decided to cancel their planned schedule.