Emiliano Sala: Flight organiser convicted over plane deaths

The organiser of the flight in which footballer Emiliano Sala died has been found guilty by majority verdict of endangering the safety of an aircraft.

Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, died in the crash in the English Channel in January 2019.

David Henderson, 67, of Hotham, East Riding of Yorkshire, was found guilty after a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

It took the jury seven and a half hours to convict Henderson, who will be sentenced on 12 November.

Argentine striker Sala and Mr Ibbotson died after their single-engine Piper Malibu plunged into the English Channel on a flight between Cardiff and Nantes in January 2019, set up by Henderson with football agent William "Willie" McKay.

The footballer was involved in a £15m transfer to Cardiff City from Nantes and was travelling between the two cities at the time of his death.

The court heard how Ibbotson, who regularly flew for Henderson, did not hold a commercial pilot's licence, a qualification to fly at night, and his rating to fly the single-engine Piper Malibu had expired.

Henderson had asked Mr Ibbotson to fly the plane as he was away on holiday with his wife in Paris.

Just moments after finding out the plane had gone down, Henderson texted a number of people telling them to stay silent, warning it would "open a can of worms", the jury was told.

The father-of-three and former RAF officer admitted in court he had feared an investigation into his business dealings.

Prosecutor Martin Goudie QC said Henderson had been "reckless or negligent" in the way he operated the plane, by putting his business above the safety of passengers.

Mr Goudie said Henderson had created a culture of breaching the air navigation regulations among the pilots he hired.

Fay Keely, who owned the plane, had told Henderson not to allow Mr Ibbotson to pilot the plane again after being contacted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) about two airspace infringements he had committed.