Emiliano Sala missing plane search resumes

The search for a missing aircraft that was carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala has resumed.

The Argentine striker, 28, was one of two people on board the plane which lost contact off Alderney in the Channel Islands on Monday night.

Sala reportedly sent a voicemail message to his father saying he was frightened the plane was about to break up.

Rescuers searching for the missing footballer Emiliano Sala are basing the operation on the premise that he may have made it into a life raft after the plane he was in went missing over the English Channel.

The police said: “Our search area is prioritized on the life raft option. More updates as information become available.”

Sala was flying to Wales from the French city of Nantes after signing for Cardiff City for a club record fee of £13m.

In a transcript of the call, he said: “I’m here on a plane that looks like it’s about to fall apart, and I’m going to Cardiff … If in an hour and a half you have no news from me, I don’t know if they are going to send someone to look for me because they cannot find me, but you know … Dad, how scared am I!”

The search and rescue operation – which included help from the Channel Islands, UK, and France – was suspended for the day at 5 pm on Tuesday.

The chances of finding Sala alive were “slim” if the plane landed on water, Guernsey police said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Guernsey police, the Piper PA-46 Malibu, a single-turbine engine aircraft, departed Nantes at 7.15pm for the Welsh capital and was flying at an altitude of 5,000ft (1,500 meters).

On passing Guernsey it “requested descent”, but Jersey air traffic control (ATC) lost contact with the plane while it was flying at 2,300ft.

After a 15-hour search from rescue teams, which covered an area of 1,155 sq miles, Guernsey police said “a number of floating objects” were seen in the water, but they were “unable to confirm whether any of these are from the missing aircraft”.

Sala, 28, was on his way back to Wales after saying goodbye to his Nantes teammates on Monday night. Choo described Sala as a “great person” and said he had been “so happy” to sign for Cardiff.