Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala has reportedly expressed concern over the condition of the aircraft in a message before he disappears aboard a light aircraft over the English Channel. „I’m on the plane that looks like it’s falling apart, and I’m leaving for Cardiff,“ the 28-year-old forward said to friends in a WhatsApp voice message, according to Argentine media reports.
„If you do not have any news from me in an hour and a half, I do not know if you’re going to get someone looking for me because you will not find me,“ Sala continued. „I’m so afraid.“
Small plane disappeared from radar
The single-engined Piper PA-46 Malibu light aircraft, which was to take Sala from Nantes, France, to Cardiff in Wales had disappeared from the radar screens over the English Channel on Monday night. A large-scale search operation has so far been unsuccessful. Rescue teams have little hope of finding Sala and the pilot alive.
Argentina’s football legend Diego Maradona said he was referring to his compatriot’s disappearance, hoping that the plane had accidentally flown into the wrong airport „and found him alive“.
Sala had signed only on Saturday a contract to change from the French club FC Nantes to the Premier League club Cardiff. The transfer fee should have amounted to 17 million euros. On Monday, the striker had picked up his belongings at the Nantes training center before making his way to the UK.
