Tonight, David Mearns, the ‘shipwreck expert’ who had been recruited to do a privately funded search to find the Piper Malibu and the two men on board, has confirmed they’ve found it.
Wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala and piloted by David Ibbotson was located early this morning by the FPV MORVEN. As agreed with the AAIB they moved the GEO OCEAN III over the position we provided them to visually identify the plane by ROV. #EmilianoSala
— David Mearns (@davidlmearns) February 3, 2019
Mr Mearns confirmed yesterday that the search zone had been narrowed down to a 2sq nautical mile area, which is where his vessel and one brought to the area by the Air Accident Investigation Branch have both focused their efforts today.
Pictured: The boat commissioned by David Mearns, with sonar equipment, to search the sea bed in the hunt for the missing plane. Inset: Two seat cushions believed to be from the missing Piper Malibu washed up on the French coast last week.
This evening, the boat commissioned by Mr Mearns was seen to return to St Peter Port Harbour, while the AAIB vessel, the Geo Ocean III, had remained at sea.
The AAIB had confirmed last week it was also going to use sonar equipment to search the seabed for the missing light aircraft as part of its enquiries. The initial search for the plane and the two men, coordinated by Guernsey Coastguard, had been called off after three days as hopes of finding Mr Sala and Mr Ibbotson alive faded.
Pictured: Dave Ibbotson and Emiliano Sala.
Mr Sala’s sister called for the search to continue and a ‘gofundme’ page set up to pay for a private search received more than £300,000 within days. That money was used to hire Mr Mearns, who also confirmed yesterday that any money left over is going into a foundation to benefit Mr Sala and Mr Ibbotson’s families.
Mr Mearns has also confirmed that both Mr Sala and Mr Ibbotson’s families have been kept informed throughout today.
The families of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson have been notified by Police. The AAIB will be making a statement tomorrow. Tonight our sole thoughts are with the families and friends of Emiliano and David. #EmilianoSalas#NoDejenDeBuscarAEmilianoSala
— David Mearns (@davidlmearns) February 3, 2019
Pictured top: The AAIB vessel is the blue dot to the north west of Alderney, where the Piper Malibu has been located.