This Tuesday, during the second day of the trial of David Henderson in the Sala case before the Cardiff Crown Court, the “Civil aviation authority”, the regulator of civil aviation in the United Kingdom, provided to the members of the jury messages exchanged between David Henderson and several protagonists of the case the day after the crash of the plane fatal to the young Argentine footballer and the pilot David Ibbotson on January 21, 2019.
The jury got down to business with the presentation of the facts by the Civil aviation authority. For the record, the latter is suing David Henderson, himself a pilot, for acts of negligence, “by risking the safety of an aircraft”, as the organizer of the flight of the footballer and the amateur pilot.
It was the occasion of a dive into Henderson’s phone, especially in the aftermath of the Piper Malibu crash.
On January 21, 2019, at 9:41 p.m., Henderson wrote to mechanic David Smith: “The Malibu disappeared on its way back from France.” A few minutes later, at 10:05 p.m., Henderson sent a second text message to the same recipient: “Don’t tell anyone.”
The next morning, Henderson wrote to Fay Keeley, the owner of the Piper Malibu that was carrying Emiliano Sala. “Call me. D. ” At 6:49 a.m., he wrote to the mechanic again. “Call me. Urgent. The Malibu fell in the English Channel. ”
Then, at 8:12 am, that same January morning, Henderson spoke by message to a pilot friend who knew Ibbotson. “Ibbo crashed the Malibu and killed himself and the VIP passenger. A p … of disaster. There will be an investigation. ”
Henderson then responds to a friend, at 9:04 am, who asks him about the disappearance of the plane he just heard about: “Yes, a plane that I manage. You have to be very careful. It opens a pandora’s box. Remain very discreet. D. “
Finally, at 10:17 am, the accused Henderson informed the owner of the plane, again by text message: “Hi Fay. I’m afraid of having bad news. David Ibbotson crashed the plane last night. Him and the passenger killed. The passenger is a famous footballer so I’m afraid there will be a big investigation. We need legal advice before we answer any questions. Contact me as soon as possible. “
