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Authorities find seat cushions believed to be from Emiliano Sala's downed plane

Liz Roscher
·Staff writer
Authorities have found debris that is “likely” from the missing plane that was carrying Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala. (Getty Images)
Authorities have found debris that is “likely” from the missing plane that was carrying Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala. (Getty Images)

After days of searching, French authorities have found seat cushions that they believe belong to soccer star Emiliano Sala’s missing plane.

ESPN reported that the seat cushions were found on a French beach, and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said on Wednesday that the cushions were “likely” from the aircraft.

Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were in a plane flying from Nantes to Cardiff on the night of Jan. 21 when the aircraft disappeared off the radar shortly before landing. It was never seen again. Just days before, the 28-year-old Sala had signed a club record $19 million transfer with Cardiff City, and had been flying to Cardiff after spending several days in Nantes saying goodbye to his FC Nantes teammates.

Search will resume after being called off

The search for the plane and for the bodies of Sala and Ibbotson was called off three days after the aircraft disappeared from the radar, with police saying that the likelihood of finding survivors was “extremely remote.” Once Sala’s family was told that authorities would no longer be searching for his body, his sister Romina Sala made a public plea for the search to go on. Until Sala and Ibbotson are found, Romina said, “for me, they are still alive.”

A crowdfunding campaign was also started to spur the reopening of the search, which caught the attention of several of Sala’s fellow soccer players. Donations came from players like Corentin Tolisso of Bayern Munich, Ilkay Gundogan of Manchester City, and Demarai Gray of Leicester City. Kylian Mbappe, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, donated nearly $35,000 on his own. The campaign reached its goal of €300,000 (about $344,000) over the weekend.

The combined effort of the crowdfunding campaign and the public pleas from Sala’s sister and soccer superstars like Lionel Messi led to the search being restarted on Jan. 27, three days after it was initially called off. The actual searching will get underway over the weekend due to weather conditions. Investigators told ESPN that they have narrowed down an area of four square nautical miles where they believe the downed plane might be, and intend to use a remotely operated vehicle to examine any debris they find.

Cardiff City pays tribute to the striker they never knew

Sala was on his way to start his career with Cardiff City when his plane disappeared. Though his teammates never played with him, they paid him a heartfelt tribute on Tuesday when they played Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. Via ESPN:

Ahead of the match, yellow cards were placed on all of the seats at the Emirates, there was a floral tribute at the center of the pitch from players on both teams, while Sala’s name was included in the matchday programme with a daffodil, a symbol of Welsh identity, in the column where his number would have been.

Here’s what the program looked like:

Though it is not yet known what caused the plane carrying Sala and Ibbotson to drop off radar and disappear, some Cardiff City players aren’t keen on flying anymore. Cardiff City defender Sol Bamba told ESPN “we travel … by plane, and some of the lads have been thinking, ‘I don’t want to go on it anymore.’ It was that deep.” Bamba also said that he hopes Tuesday’s tribute to Sala will help the club start to move on from this tragedy.

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