67 year old david henderson has been the man on trial here. he was the operator of that plane and also, crucially, the man responsible for choosing pilots, and over the course of this two week trial the jury has heard several pieces of evidence to suggest that mr henderson knew that pilot david ibbotson wasn t fit to fly sala that evening. footballer emiliano sala s last message before his night time flight on the 21st of january 2019, from nantes to cardiff, crashed into the english channel. after an extensive public and private search the wreckage and the argentine s body was found, but the pilot s, david ibbotson, was never recovered. on trial for endangering the safety of an aircraft has been 67 year old david henderson, the plane s operator, and crucially the one in charge
of choosing pilots on behalf of the owner. the jury here in cardiff has heard several pieces of evidence to suggest that mr henderson knew that his pilot was not fit to fly sala. in a series of text messages which started in august 2018, night flying was discussed, a qualification it appeared mr ibbotson did not have. then in october the operator asked the pilot to acquire his night rating. the reply was, it didn t seem possible any time soon. and in a message a month before the crash, david henderson was made aware that the qualification still hadn t been achieved. realising that the weather could be treacherous on the 21st of january 2019 and knowing that mr ibbotson didn t have the qualifications to fly in those conditions, david henderson texted the pilot, asking him to blag the rating required to fly in bad weather outside of uk airspace, to which the reply was, yes, done it before.
of choosing pilots on behalf of the owner. the jury here in cardiff has heard several pieces of evidence to suggest that mr henderson knew that his pilot was not fit to fly sala. in a series of text messages which started in august 2018, night flying was discussed, a qualification it appeared mr ibbotson did not have. then in october the operator asked the pilot to acquire his night rating. the reply was, it didn t seem possible any time soon. and in a message a month before the crash, david henderson was made aware that the qualification still hadn t been achieved. realising that the weather could be treacherous on the 21st of january 2019 and knowing that mr ibbotson didn t have the qualifications to fly in those conditions, david henderson texted the pilot, asking him to blag the rating required to fly in bad weather outside of uk airspace, to which the reply was, yes, done it before.