Body pulled from wreckage of plane that crashed carrying Emiliano Sala is confirmed to be that of the Argentinean footballer – as missing pilot's family tell of their ongoing agony

Emiliano Sala's body has been pulled from the wreckage of the Piper Malibu

The plane was found on a sea bed on Sunday, hours after a private search began

Pilot David Ibbotson's body has not been recovered, neither has the plane

Published: 17:44 EST, 7 February 2019 | Updated: 19:11 EST, 7 February 2019

Romina Sala confirmed she will take care of her brother's beloved pet dog. Sala had been due to start a new life in the UK

The body recovered from the wreckage of a plane at the bottom of the English Channel has been confirmed as Emiliano Sala.

Families of the Argentinean striker and pilot David Ibbotson have been nervously awaiting news over whose body was pulled from the crashed Piper Malibu on Wednesday, after it went missing on January 21.

Dorset Police confirmed this evening the body was that of the 28-year-old footballer.

Sala was flying to start his new life in the UK from Nantes in France after his £15million signing to Cardiff FC when the plane went down.

A coroner's examination of the body, which was recovered from the seabed, established which of the two men they had found.

Weather conditions are so bad off Guernsey it is not clear if the wreckage can be brought to the surface - meaning it remains unclear whether not Mr Ibbotson's body will be returned to dry land.

An official search was called off after four days after it was deemed unlikely the men could have survived.

A private search was launched for the plane and the men. Hours after the Ocean Geo III was launched its sonar radars picked up the plane on a seabed.

Then, robotic submarines were used to assess it and film the inside. Yesterday one body was brought to the surface.

Earlier today friends and relatives of the pilot's wife Nora said she was 'beside herself' waiting to hear whether or not he had been found.

Cardiff City Football Club said in a statement: 'We offer our most heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of Emiliano.

'He and David will forever remain in our thoughts.'

Emiliano Sala's sister posted an image of her brother with his mother before the news was given officially by police

An image of Sala was unveiled at FC Nantes as they played AS Saint-Etienne atThe Stade de la Beaujoire - in tribute to the player

Missing footballer Emiliano Sala was confirmed dead after his body was brought up from the bottom of the English Channel

The body was recovered from the wreckage of the plane carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala on Wednesday

The body was taken to a coroner who announced late on Thursday it was Emiliano Sala whose body was recovered

Pilot David Ibbotson and his wife, Nora Ibbotson. The frequent flyer went missing with his plane on January 21

Mr Ibbotson's wife Nora has been desperately waiting for news at her home in Crowle, near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.

A local businesswoman in the tiny close knit village - where a makeshift shrine to the missing part time pilot, gas fitter and father-of-three - has been set up in his memory at the market square - said tonight: 'We've heard that Nora hasn't yet been told which body had been found. She is distraught with grief not knowing, the waiting is agony for her and her family and our hearts go out to them.'

A relative of the heartbroken family said: 'What's happened is awful and all we want is for David's body to be found so we can lay him to rest properly, as he deserves, and pay our respects. Not knowing where he is and if his body has been found or maybe never will be is the worst thing ever.'

One body from the wreckage of the plane has been recovered more than 20 miles off the coast of Guernsey

Timeline: How the Sala tragedy unfolded

January 21, 2019:

The single-turbine engine Piper PA-46 Malibu leaves Nantes at 7.15pm for Cardiff and is flying at an altitude of 5,000ft. At 8.50pm the plane disappears from radar in the English Channel.

January 22:

The French civil aviation authority confirms Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala, 28, who had just signed for Cardiff City, was on board the light aircraft. Piloting the plane was David Ibbotson, from Crowle, near Scunthorpe.

January 24:

Guernsey's harbour master Captain David Barker says the chances Sala and Mr Ibbotson have survived is 'extremely remote'.

January 26:

It emerges that football agent Willie McKay arranged for the flight to take Sala to Cardiff but he says he had no involvement in selecting the plane or pilot. He also backs calls for the search to continue.

January 27:

Relatives and friends of Sala arrive in Guernsey, having enlisted the help of shipwreck hunting expert David Mearns.

January 28:

Sala's family, including his mother Mercedes and sister Romina, take a chartered flight in a plane operated by Guernsey airline Aurigny over the area where the plane disappeared.

January 30:

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) says two seat cushions found washed up earlier in the week near Surtainville on the Cotentin Peninsula are likely to have come from the plane carrying Sala and his pilot.

February 3:

Wreckage of the plane is located in a fresh, privately funded search which was made possible after a fundraising campaign saw more than £260,000 donated.

Feburary 4:

A body is visible in seabed video footage of the wreckage of the plane. The AAIB says the footage was filmed using an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) which was surveying the area after the plane was located.

February 6:

A body seen in the wreckage of the plane is recovered. The AAIB says the body will be taken to Portland to be passed over to the Dorset coroner for examination.

The aircraft remains 67 metres underwater 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey. The AAIB says attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful and, due to continued poor weather forecast, 'the difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close'.

February 7:

The Geo Ocean III search boat returns to dock in Portland, Dorset, carrying the wreckage of the Piper Malibu aircraft. Investigators wait to confirm if the body inside the wreckage is that of the pilot or the Argentinian footballer.

Sixty-year-old Mr Ibbotson's wife Nora and former wife Georgina Gymer, who now lives in New Zealand, are understood to have been in contact to unite in grief across the globe.

The body was brought off ship, Geo Ocean III, on a stretcher and transferred to a private ambulance before being taken to Dorset Police and the local coroner.

The sea search vessel FPV Morven picked up the wreckage using sonar and an unmanned Air Accident Investigation Branch submarine sent to the sea bed used an HD camera to identify the blue and white aircraft.

Sala's girlfriend Berenice Schkair yesterday posted a picture on Instagram of a rose stuck into the sand next to the sea.

Mr Ibbotson's daughter, sister and nephew were among loved ones paying respects to the 60-year-old gas engineer, part time pilot and devoted family man, earlier this week.

His younger sister Helen Kapatysulias wrote: 'To David, my gentle brother. I have so many memories of you, mine is of you when you were coming home from school, you used to pick me up and carry me home. I will lock these memories in my heart forever.

'All I would like is to see your face, smiling, cheekily, again. I know you're safe wherever you are. I pray that one day I will see you again, my gentle Big Brother.

'I love you forever and always and will never forget you.'

His daughter penned In loving memory of a dear Dad: 'Daddio, Words cannot describe how much I am going to miss you. You are the best dad anybody could wish for and I will love you always. I have (word illegible) memories and will pass these on to anybody I meet. All my love Vicki.'

The official search was called off after four days after the coastguard deemed survival not likely.

Marine scientist Mr Mearns volunteered to help the Sala family for free after initial search and rescue efforts by a number of agencies failed.

Him and his team, working in conjunction with the AAIB, found the remains of the plane within two hours of starting their search.

The families of both men remain intent on getting answers.

It is not yet known why the plane came down.

An experienced pilot chartered by football agent Willie McKay to fly Emiliano Sala drafted in a 'rusty' part-time replacement and covered the costs on his credit card causing confusion when the plane vanished, it was revealed.

Mr McKay wanted his usual pilot David Henderson, 60, to carry the Argentinian striker to Britain but he drafted in David Ibbotson, 59, after asking him: 'Do you want to spend a weekend in Nantes?'

Mr Ibbotson, a boiler engineer and part-time pilot, told a friend he was 'a bit rusty' with the instruments of the 35-year-old aircraft and it did not have the licence to carry paying passengers.

Describing the time period since, Mr McKay, a mega-agent renowned for his contacts in France, told l'Equipe sports newspaper that it has 'been an absolute nightmare for us.'

Messages were left around the base of a tree in Crowle for the pilot after a body was found at the bottom of the Channel

Sala's mother and sister seen as search for the plane which disappeared over English Channel began on Sunday

Sala's former girlfriend Berenice Schkair, a French model, posted an image on Instagram of a rose in tribute to the footballer

The Geo Ocean III specialist search vessel off the coast of Alderney in the English Channel. The crew found the plane hours after the search began

Well-wishers offered the family of Emiliano Sala their support after police confirmed the body pulled from the wreckage of his crashed plane was his.

The footballer's sister Romina posted a picture of the 28-year-old with their mum Mercedes ahead of the official news.

Fans reacted online by voicing their pain at the news.

Gary Blaney wrote: 'So sorry your family has received the devastating news you had been dreading. I hope you find some comfort that this tragedy has touched the entire world.'

Louise Phillips added: 'May you now be able to grieve with Emiliano being found. RIP Emiliano. May you keep playing the game you loved with the angels.'

Caroline Harrison wrote: 'So sorry for your loss. We have all been touched by this awful tragedy. Sending my prayers to you all.'

Pam Abrahams said in a poignant message to Romina posted on social media: 'Thinking of you all. Emiliano has touched the hearts of the whole world. Find comfort knowing he was such a special person.

'Be proud how you fought to find out what happened to your brother. You are an inspiration and he would be proud of you.'

There was no immediate reaction from Emiliano's sister or mother, who travelled to Europe after the footballer's plane went missing, or his lorry driver dad Horacio who has remained in Argentina.

Berenice Schkair, described as the footballer's ex after the plane crash although she later insisted the pair were just good friends getting to know each other, posted a clip of the song Shallow from the film 'A Star is Born' on social media after authorities announced they had recovered a body from the Piper Malibu plane Sala was on that crashed near Guernsey on January 21.

The blonde model, who pointed the finger at 'football mafia' after the new Cardiff City signing went missing although she later pulled back on her claims, wrote two days ago online: 'Never give up…justice for Emiliano Sala.'