All language subtitles for M.2003-S24E03-Lost.Star.Footballer.WEBDL-1080pEAC3.5.1h264-NOGRP_track3_[eng]

(narrator):
Above the English Channel,

a Piper Malibu suddenly
disappears from radar.

- Where did you go?

November 264 Delta Bravo,
do you read?

(narrator): Search teams find
no trace of the plane

or its high-profile passenger.

(news): Tonight,
Emiliano Sala is missing.

- This began as a small,
general-aviation accident,

and it very quickly became
of worldwide interest.

(narrator): As recovery crews
search the sea,

the pilot's background
is investigated.

- He didn't have
a full instrument rating.

- That rang alarm bells for me.

(narrator):
But when they locate the plane,
theories change.

- Look at the bending
of the splice joint.

- The plane broke up
before it hit the water.

- So now what we had
to establish was:

Why did the aircraft break up
in flight?

- Mayday, Mayday!

- It's going up!

(indistinct radio chatter)

(narrator):
A chartered Piper Malibu
is moments from takeoff.

Pilot David Ibbotson prepares
the plane for departure

from Nantes Airport in France.

- November 264 Delta Bravo
ready for takeoff.

(narrator):
Ibbotson has a VIP on board.

Argentinian footballer
Emiliano Sala.

(speaking Spanish)

(narrator): The star striker
is leaving Nantes for good.

He's moving up
to the Premier League to play
for Cardiff City Football Club

for 17-million euros.

- This was the move up

to one of the world's
richest leagues
seen around the globe.

It would've propelled him
to absolute superstardom.

(narrator):
It's a two-hour flight
from Nantes to Cardiff, Wales,

crossing over
the English Channel.

This is Emiliano Sala's
second flight with Ibbotson.

Two days earlier,
he flew back from Cardiff,

where he signed
his new contract.

- Emiliano wanted to go back
to Nantes

to be able
to say proper goodbyes
to his teammates, his friends.

He'd left in the middle
of the night,

and hadn't really told them
that he would be signing
for Cardiff City.

- November 264 Delta Bravo.

Requesting clearance to climb
to flight level 55.

- November 264 Delta Bravo,

you are cleared
to flight level 55.

(narrator): The Piper Malibu
can carry five passengers,

but tonight, Emiliano Sala
is travelling alone.

- Are you warm enough?

- Sorry?
- Are you warm?

- Tengo frío.

- It's a comfortable aircraft.

It will cruise
at a reasonable speed.

It's quite large,
it's quite fast
for a light aircraft.

(narrator): The plane climbs
towards a cruising altitude
of 5,500 feet.

- It would've been relatively
easy to conduct this flight
back from Nantes to Cardiff

in clear weather.

(narrator): As they approach
the Channel Islands,

the weather changes.

Rain clouds loom on the horizon.

- The pilot's visibility
would've deteriorated

as he approached
the cloud conditions
over the Channel Islands.

- November 264 Delta Bravo.

(narrator):
With conditions worsening,

David Ibbotson contacts
Air Traffic Control.

(pilot): Requesting clearance
to descend to maintain VMC.

- November 264 Delta Bravo,

you are cleared
to flight level 50.

Just advise if you need
further descent.

- November 264 Delta Bravo.
Thank you, sir.

(narrator):
Ibbotson takes the Piper lower
to avoid the bad weather.

- The cloud layers would've
obscured what little light
was available

from the islands
of Jersey and Guernsey.

And the forward visibility
would've been such

that the horizon
would've been indistinct
and difficult to make out.

- Are you good back there?

Um, November 264 Delta Bravo.

Requesting further descent
to maintain VMC.

(narrator):
But 10 minutes later,

Ibbotson still hasn't been able
to clear the clouds.

- Cleared to descend
at your discretion.

- Uh, Roger.

(narrator): The Piper Malibu
is one hour from Cardiff.

But as the controller follows
the plane's progress,

it disappears from radar.

- November 264 Delta Bravo,
how are you making out there?

Where did you go?

November 264 Delta Bravo,

do you read?

Uh, yes, I've got a Piper Malibu
missing from radar

near the Channel Islands,

uh, north of Guernsey.

Registration number is...

November 264 Delta Bravo.

(narrator):
News of the missing Piper
spreads quickly.

- Word starts to emerge
that a Piper Malibu
has gone down in the Channel.

Um, and fairly soon afterwards,
sports journalists start saying:

Wasn't Emiliano Sala due
to travel to Cardiff
the same night?

(narrator):
An air-and-sea search
gets underway

for a plane that disappeared
over the English Channel.

Search-and-rescue teams
launch an expansive search

of the Channel overnight
and into the next morning.

But the plane remains lost.

- Good morning.
- Hello.

(narrator): Meanwhile,
a team from Britain's AAIB,

or Air Accidents
Investigation Branch,

is assigned to the case.

- Radar data's come in.

Check your inbox.

- Great. I'll bring it up.

(narrator): They wonder exactly
where the Piper went down
in the English Channel.

- We contacted ATC and we asked
for their radar information.
We used that radar information,

we were able to put it together
to provide a track
of the aircraft.

- Looks like...
the last-known radar hit is...

...right here.

So it should be...

...close to here.

(narrator):
Investigators begin to zero in
on a search area

north-northwest of the island
of Guernsey.

- These are... deep waters.

It's too deep for divers.

- And the strong currents.

I'll get the coordinates
to the marine team.

- When we first started looking
at the radar information,

and trying to turn that
into a location in the sea,

our marine advisors
looked at tides.

That gave us a seabed location
which we had reasonably
good confidence in.

(narrator):
While search-and-rescue teams
begin more targeted efforts,

the world gets the news
everyone feared.

- Emiliano Sala was on board.

(narrator): French police
confirm to news outlets

that Emiliano Sala
was on the missing Piper Malibu.

- Given the temperature
of the water
and the weather conditions,

it was very rough last night.

Their chances of survival
are very, very slim.

(news): In Nantes,
more affection
for a much-loved player.

(reporter translating):
We ask you to stand with us,

to be united
and to respect the family.

They refuse to grieve
and continue to believe.

- Th-that's great.

Everything you can find.

Okay. Thank you.

I've got a team working
on securing any mobile messages
sent by the pilot or Sala.

- Good idea.

Okay.

(narrator):
As the search continues,

investigators look for any clues
as to why the Piper Malibu
went missing.

- You see,
he deviates a bit to the right
as he approaches Guernsey,

but he's pretty much right back
on course not long after.

- And the altitude holds steady
at 5,000 feet during that time.

Nothing too unusual.

- Right. But zoom in
towards the end of the flight.
- Right.

- Check out those turns.

(narrator):
They discover the plane
made a wide turn to the right

three minutes
before it disappeared...

...followed by a hard left.

- Look at that final right turn.

- It's almost...

180 degrees.

(narrator): The Piper then made
a sharp right turn

seconds before vanishing
from radar.

- So we could see
from the radar track that things
began to go very strangely.

There was a lot of turning,
both left and right.

And it culminated
in a very sharp turn
to the right.

(narrator): What would cause
such erratic deviations

ending in a steep dive?

- The behaviour
that we were seeing,

which was an increasing
turn rate

and an increasing rate
of descent,

looked like the beginning
of a manoeuvre
that we call a spiral dive.

- And look at the...

altitude fluctuations.

- Up and down,
and then a very rapid descent.

- For the final few moments
of that flight...

...this is a plane
that is ascending,

that is descending,
that is meandering,
and ultimately,

this plane is going to end up
in the sea.

(narrator): Did the plane suffer
a loss of control

before plunging
into the English Channel?

- But even if we do find
the plane,

it's still going to prove
to be quite challenging.

- There's no CVR or FDR
on the Malibu.

- Not having
a flight-data recorder
or a cockpit voice recorder

makes it incredibly difficult
to establish what happened

in the last few minutes
of that flight.

(narrator): After three days,
the search for survivors
is called off.

The world mourns the loss
of an up-and-coming footballer.

Messages of condolence flood in
from football clubs and players

who pay tribute
to Emiliano Sala.

While families grieve,

recovery teams deploy ships
equipped with side-scan sonar,

hunting for the Piper Malibu
at the bottom
of the English Channel.

But finding the wreckage
22 miles off the coast
of Guernsey is slow going.

- There were high tidal flows,

and it was further complicated

by the winter storms
that were coming through.

(narrator):
Pressure is on the AAIB
to find the wreckage.

- This starts as a small story
about a plane going missing,

and then suddenly
there is somebody famous
on board,

and the whole world
wants to find out
exactly what's happened here.

- So, uh,
this sector looks clear.

Okay... let's move on.

(narrator): Thirteen days
into the investigation,

search teams continue
to scour the bottom
of the English Channel,

looking for the missing
Piper Malibu, its pilot,

and its sole passenger,
footballer Emiliano Sala.

- We knew it was gonna be
very difficult.

And at that stage,
we didn't expect
to actually find it.

(playback of Sala's
phone message)

- Uh... hey, I've got something.
You won't believe it.

- What is it?

- A message Sala left
before takeoff.

(speaking Spanish)

- So in the few moments
before the plane took off,

Emiliano Sala sent a voice note
to his friends

back home in Argentina.

(narrator):
Investigators discover
that Emiliano Sala

raised concerns
prior to takeoff.

- Was there, uh,
some kind of mechanical problem
with the plane?

- That's a good point.

I'll check
the maintenance history.

- We looked to see
whether the aircraft
was maintained properly,

and whether there's any hints
that there could've been
some form of mechanical failure.

- The last full check
was in November.

- So... two months
before the flight.

- Well, it's only flown 11 hours
since then.

As far as general maintenance
is concerned,

the plane checks out.

- When we looked
at those records,

they were all in order
and it wasn't suggesting

there should've been any sort
of mechanical failure.

- Check that.
That looks promising.

(narrator): Fifteen days
into the investigation,

search teams make
a critical discovery.

- I bet that's our plane.

- Finding the aircraft
was a big breakthrough
for the investigation.

- Thanks. No, that's great.

Uh... thanks for the update.

Not only did they locate
the plane,

but they...

...found one of the bodies.

(narrator): Emiliano Sala's body
is found inside the plane.

His remains are sent
to a pathologist for analysis.

The pilot's body isn't found.

AAIB investigators
turn their attention

to video footage taken
of the debris

at the bottom
of the English Channel.

- Pause it...
on the forward section
of the fuselage.

(narrator):
Was the plane out of control
when it hit the water?

- Look at the damage
to the roof.

- One of the most interesting
things about the wreckage

was that all the compression
damage was on the top surfaces,

not on the lower surfaces.

So what this showed us
was that the aircraft
had hit the sea upside down.

That is,
in an inverted attitude.

- Let's check the tail
for damage, as well.

- I didn't see it
in the earlier footage.

- Ah, it's missing.
- Hmm.

- They didn't find it.

- The outer section
of the left wing is gone too.
- Actually, for both wings.

- We did try and find them.
The Coast Guard was looking
for them,

and we were hoping
that they might be washed up
somewhere,

but they never appeared.

- It's hard to know when...
these pieces separated.

(narrator):
Did the tail and outer wings
break off before or on impact?

- Look at the bending
of the splice joint.

- Check out the direction
of the bending.

(narrator): A close examination
of the left wing
provides a vital clue.

- We could see
that the left wing failed

as a result of the outer section
being bent downwards.

- That can only mean one thing.

- The plane broke up
before it hit the water.

- The finding
that the left wing failed...

...bending downwards,
was very significant.

Because if the tail failed
in flight,

the aircraft nose
would pitch down,
causing the wing to fail,

bending downwards.

(narrator):
Investigators conclude
that the in-flight breakup began

when the tail broke off,

causing the wings
to bend downwards,

ripping off their outer portion
before impact.

- So now,
what we had to establish was:

Why did the aircraft
break up in flight?

- Let's try modelling
the radar data.

- We used
a software simulation...

where you enter
the radar information
that we had,

and it uses
aircraft laws of motion

to give us information
about the airspeed,
the angle of bank,

and the G-force on the aircraft.

- Okay, let's take a look.

(narrator):
Using the plane's altitude
and coordinates over time,

investigators are able to plot
the plane's manoeuvres.

- Okay, so this is the plane's
last turn,

starting at...

20:16.

(narrator): They examine
the most mystifying manoeuvre,

the final dive
towards the water.

- The plane starts at 190 knots,

and continues speeding up
to almost 280 knots.

- That's well beyond the...
structural limits of the plane.

(narrator): The team discovers
that the excessive airspeed led

to the aircraft's
mid-flight breakup.

- Aircraft have maximum speeds,
beyond which you must not
take them.

Because if you take them
above those speeds,

then you risk structural damage
to the aircraft.

And in this case,
we saw the aircraft
go way above those speeds.

- Why was the pilot flying
so fast?

- Why does he make
all those turns?

- My immediate thoughts
on seeing that turn was
it was extreme,

and there was clearly something
very wrong going on
in the aircraft at the time.

(narrator): Investigators
receive Emils toxicology r.

Could the results shed any light
on the mysterious crash
of the Piper Malibu?

- When we receive the results
of the postmortem,

we rely on the pathologist
to indicate to us

if there's anything
that's abnormal.

- There's nothing unusual
in Sala's toxicology.

- Alright, then. Let's bring up
the weather report.
- Right.

(narrator): The team turns
to the weather data
towards the end of the flight

in hopes of explaining why
the Piper Malibu lost control.

- Well, that doesn't look good.

- Rain.

A lot of it.
- Hmm.

It looks like he's turning
as he's...

approaching those cells.

- Maybe he's trying to fly
around the clouds.

- When you're flying at night,
with very little light,

there are lots of ways in which
your body can become confused
about where you are in space.

Are you climbing or descending?
Are you turning left or right?

And that can quite easily lead
to a loss of control.

- So tell me about the flight.

(narrator): Investigators speak
with the air-traffic controller.

- Uh, everything seemed...
totally normal,

then he just... disappeared
off the radar.

- And... before you lost him,

uh, did you hear anything...
unusual?

- Not really.

He did ask to descend twice...

to stay in visual conditions.

- November 264 Delta Bravo.

Requesting further descent
to maintain VMC.

- Cleared to descend
at your discretion.
- Uh, Roger.

(narrator):
Not only was the pilot trying
to fly around the clouds,

he was trying to descend below
them for better visibility.

- You know,
here's what I don't get.

The pilot has instruments
to help him fly
through poor visibility.

- Well, he's clearly
not using them.

- Perhaps he doesn't know
how to use them.

- What do we have on this pilot?

Let's... figure out exactly
who's flying this plane.

- We had a pilot
that had manoeuvred, we think,
to avoid weather,

but appears
to have lost control.

So that raised
the question about:
Why did that happen?

- Thank you.

And here it is.

His current private licence.
It has all his ratings.

(narrator): Did the pilot have
the required experience
to fly the plane in bad weather?

- The family were able
to share his laptop with us,

and on there was a photograph
he'd taken of his licence.

- He didn't have
a full instrument rating.

- He also had what's called
an Instrument Rating Restricted.

So that's a limited
instrument rating

that allowed him to operate
in some conditions

in instrument flight rules.

- Plus... he hasn't flown
using his instruments

in almost...

two years.

- He hadn't had
any recent practice

in flying the aircraft in cloud
or on instruments,

and instrument flying
is a perishable skill;
you forget it quite quickly.

- Oh, that's not the worst part.

The flight plan he filed for
had a nighttime departure.
He doesn't have a night rating.

- From our evidence
of Mr. Ibbotson's recent flying,
it was all done in daytime,

in good weather.

(narrator): Investigators
conclude that Ibbotson's
licencing was inadequate

for a night flight
in instrument conditions.

- Oh, there's something more.

- Every turn we took seemed
to open a lot more cans of worms
that we needed to investigate.

- Check this out.

- It's a summary of Ibbotson's
projected expenses.

- Exactly.

And look here.

- Pilot fee?

- That rang alarm bells for me,
because this guy's...

only a private pilot's
licence holder;
he's not entitled to be paid.

- November 264 Delta Bravo
ready for takeoff.

- He didn't have a night rating,

and he didn't have
a commercial pilot's licence.

Essentially means this pilot
should not have been operating
this flight.

- So...

...who paid him?

(narrator): Who contracted
an inadequately licenced pilot
to fly Emiliano Sala to Cardiff?

- Getting to the bottom
of who organized this flight
was very difficult.

There was no... contract,

there were no receipts,
there was no agreements.

This was all done
by word of mouth or telephone.

- It's a wall of silence.

(narrator):
They get very little information
about the flight

from the owner
of the Piper Malibu.

- Oh, I've got a tip.
- Hmm?

- Someone wants to talk.

Discreetly.

- Well, let's... talk to them.
Hmm?

(narrator): Is this the break
investigators need?

- David Henderson
arranged the flight.

He works for the owner.

(narrator): Investigators meet
with a witness
who has more information

about Emiliano Sala's flight
over the English Channel.

- The witness that came forward
wanted to give us information,

but didn't want
to be identified.

(narrator):
The informant provides insight

into the accident aircraft
and its operator.

- So Henderson hired the pilot?
- That's right.
- Okay.

(phone ringing)
- Ibbotson here.

(narrator):
They learn that David Henderson
keeps a roster of pilots.

- Mr. Henderson, how are you?

(narrator):
David Ibbotson was one of them.

- Henderson asked Ibbotson
if could he fly a passenger

from Cardiff to Nantes
and back again.

- I think I can do that.

- Mr. Ibbotson would've known
that he had no night rating.

And he would've known,
as a private pilot's
licence holder,

that he was not entitled
to be paid for the flight.

- What is the departure time
from Nantes?

(narrator):
Investigators uncover more
about the flight's schedule.

- So the original plan
for the flight was for Mr. Sala
to fly back on Monday morning.

- The circumstances changed.

The flight to Cardiff
kept getting delayed.

- Mr. Henderson. Ibbotson again.

- There were numerous changes
to the departure time
over the weekend...

- Uh, sorry to say
we have a further delay.

- ...that was pushed back
at the request of the passenger.

- So he was supposed
to be flying in conditions
with good visibility,

during the day...
but that changed.

- And he doesn't have
his night rating.

- Have you seen
anything like this before?
- This is a first.

- What we started to see
a picture of...

was an operation in the shadows.

It was unlicensed,

had no approval
to do commercial work.

They were using
an unqualified pilot.

- We have to figure this out.

Work your contacts.

Let's... see what we can find.

(narrator):
Are chartered flights
with unlicensed pilots common?

- It was very challenging
to assess... the extent
that this was going on.

There's no records kept,

there's no flight plans made.

And witnesses
are understandably reluctant
to talk about it.

(narrator): Investigators learn
about flights
that aren't properly licenced -

called "grey charters."

They offer a discounted price,
which comes with increased risk.

- The problem with grey charters
is that the aircraft
being used to operate them

are often not maintained
to the same safety standard
as commercial airliners.

- Witnesses came to us
to talk about the prevalence
of grey charters.

We could see a pattern emerging
of how common this was
in aviation in the UK.

(narrator):
Four months after the crash
of the Piper Malibu,

investigators are close
to releasing a final report...

...when the case takes
an unexpected turn.

- Oh, it's from the pathologist.

He did some additional testing
on Sala's bloodwork.

Oh, he just sent me
the analysis.

- Sala had... carbon monoxide
in his system.

- The pathologist had ordered
toxicology tests,

but that had not included
carbon monoxide.

And when he realized
he'd missed that,

he put in a request
for just the carbon monoxide
to be tested.

- This had really been a story
about a pilot flying

outside of his competency,

in weather that he'd neither
practised nor prepared for.

And it was all down to him.

The onus was being put on him.

And then suddenly we get
this finding of carbon monoxide,

and that really made everyone...
think again.

- Sala's carbon-monoxide levels
were at 58%.

(narrator):
Toxicology testing reveals
that footballer Emiliano Sala

had high levels
of carbon monoxide
in his system.

- I was shocked
by the level of carbon monoxide
that was in his blood.

- What would that have done
to him?

- Carbon monoxide over 50%:

Unconsciousness and...

...eventual death.

- Sala was out.
- Hmm.

- He wouldn't have been
conscious
when the plane crashed.

- Are you warm?
- Tengo frío.

(narrator):
Carbon monoxide is a colourless,
odourless, flavourless gas.

- You don't know it's there.
You don't know
you're breathing it in.

And yet it's so dangerous
and it can kill you quickly.

(narrator): Even low levels
of carbon monoxide
are dangerous.

- Are you good back there?
- The first thing that happens
is you get a headache.

You might feel confused, drowsy.

You start not being able
to do tasks that you would
normally find easy.

(narrator): The question is:
Did Sala's carbon-monoxide
poisoning

come from the plane
or somewhere else?

- Right.

(narrator):
Did Emiliano Sala show signs
of carbon-monoxide poisoning

prior to his flight
on the Piper Malibu?

The AAIB seeks help
from French investigators.

- We had our colleagues
in France...

talk to people
at Nantes Airport...

to see what the behaviour
of the pilot and the passenger
had been

as they were going
through the airport
on the way to the airplane.

- Well,
how did the passenger seem?

(narrator): Officials
at Nantes Airport scrutinize
security footage of Sala

to see if there was anything
abnormal about his actions.

(AAIB investigator):
What about the pilot?

Okay. No, that...

That's great. Thanks.

Negative.

Sala... seemed fine.

The pilot was alert,
he wasn't swaying.

- That means
the carbon-monoxide poisoning
was from the plane.

(narrator):
David Ibbotson's body
was never recovered

from the English Channel.

His carbon-monoxide levels
couldn't be determined.

- You know...

maybe the modelling data...

will shed some light.

(narrator): Investigators return
to the flight-path data
for further insight.

Was the pilot affected
by the poisonous gas?

- Straight... level.

Looks like... it's on autopilot.

- Hmm.
- It's hard to know
if he was conscious or not.

- Next, the plane turns right...
and then turns left.

- Look at these bank angles.

Thirty-six degrees to the right,

and then 56 degrees to the left.

Those angles are...

well beyond the limits...
of the autopilot.

(narrator):
Investigators discover that
the pilot was conscious enough

to be turning the plane
in the final stage of flight.

But was he conscious during
the last minute of flight?

- Then here,
the plane is in its dive,

with its right wing
pointed right down,
straight at the water.

- It's hard to believe he was
fully conscious for that.
- Yes.

- Hello. Check this out.

Before the plane broke up,

the wings almost level out.

- Either the pilot
could've applied pressure
on the control column -

for example,
by slumping over it -

and that could've caused
the wings to roll level.

- Check out the pitch.

There's a slight increase.

(narrator):
In the final moments,

the pitch of the Piper Malibu
starts to rise.

It's evidence that the pilot
must have been partly conscious.

- But for the aircraft
to start to pitch up,

the pilot would have to be
conscious enough

to pull the control column
rearward.

- His carbon-monoxide levels
had to be lower
than the passenger's.

- Right. Well,
he may have been conscious,

but he still could've been
badly impaired.

- He may have been slipping
in and out of consciousness,

and may have made a token effort
to recover the aircraft
from the steep descending turn.

- Without Mr. Ibbotson's body,
it's impossible to know...

...how much he was affected
by carbon monoxide.

But we know they were sitting
in the same confined cabin.

- Okay.

We need everything there is
on the Piper Malibu
exhaust and ventilation system.

- The carbon monoxide is carried
by the exhaust gasses,

which are generated
by the engine.

We needed to understand:
How did those exhaust gasses
get into the cabin?

- Are you warm?

- Tengo frío.

- I've pulled the schematics.
- Great.

(narrator):
Investigators study the exhaust
and ventilation systems

of the Piper Malibu

to determine how carbon monoxide
could have entered the cabin.

- Maybe...

there was an exhaust leak

that seeped...

through the firewall...

...and the pressure bulkhead.

- Maybe, but...

only if there was a crack
or a... a leak.

(narrator): Piston engines
produce high concentrations
of carbon monoxide

that can potentially enter
the cabin as a result of cracks,
holes,

or poorly fitted components
in the exhaust system.

- The team did a lot of work
on...

...potential sources
for the carbon monoxide
in the cabin,

and we talked
to the manufacturer
and to the engine manufacturer.

(narrator):
Seals in the firewall and
the forward pressure bulkhead

form an airtight barrier
preventing engine fumes
from entering the cabin.

- Here's the thing.

Maintenance inspected
the firewall
and the pressure bulkhead

two months ago.

There's no signs of cracking
or broken seals.

- During the last
maintenance inspections,

the engineers found
nothing wrong with the firewall
or the pressure bulkhead.

(narrator):
Investigators consider
a different possibility.

- What if...

there was a puncture...

...in the exhaust piping?

(narrator): Did a breach
in the exhaust system

allow poisonous fumes
to mix with the fresh air

used to ventilate the cabin?

As fresh air enters
the aircraft,

it's warmed by the engine's
exhaust pipe

inside a chamber
called the heater muff

before circulating
into the cabin.

- What if the puncture happened

after the last inspection?

- Let's check the logbooks.

(narrator):
They look for any history
of an issue near the tailpipe.

- No. Nothing here.

- What about... on the flight...

over to Nantes?

- That's a good point.
Maybe something happened there.

- On the way to Nantes,
Mr. Ibbotson did encounter
a number of problems

with the aircraft
that he reported
to various parties.

- Thank you.

It sounds like there were
some issues on the flight
on the way over from Cardiff.

- Like what?

- Well,
there was a small oil leak.

And... during the landing,
his brakes gave him problems.

Both were checked and...
they weren't a safety concern.

- Okay.
- This one is more troublesome.

He reported a bang mid-flight.

And the cabin filled with mist.

(narrator): Two days
before the fatal flight,

Ibbotson piloted Emiliano Sala
from Cardiff to Nantes

to pick up his belongings
and say his goodbyes.

(bang)

- What the...?

- It's okay?

- Uh... yeah, yeah.
It's... it's okay.

- The plane is mid-Channel.

(Thomas): He talks about a bang,

something that really
kind of grabbed his attention.

He checks to see if everything
is working as it should do.

The plane keeps flying.
But in the back of his mind is:
What on earth was that?

- Maybe the turbocharger failed
on the way over to Nantes,

and punctured the tailpipe.

(narrator): Did a turbine inside
an engine turbocharger break,

puncturing the exhaust pipe,

allowing poisonous gas
into the cabin?

- If you do have damage
to the tailpipe...

then there is a possibility

that exhaust fumes
and the carbon monoxide can flow

into the fresh air
and into the cabin.

- Interesting theory, but I...

I've got an idea.

(narrator): Investigators check
with the National Transportation
Safety Board,

in the United States,
where the Piper Malibu
is manufactured.

- Oh... really?

No, that's... that's fine.
Thanks. Thanks so much.

- We became aware that the NTSB
were investigating events
where a turbine wheel

in a turbocharger came away.

- Okay.
It's happened twice before.

(narrator):
Coul ee component
on the Piper Malibu

have come apart and punctured
the exhaust system,

releasing toxic fumes
into the cabin?

- We don't know the cause of
the bang on the outbound flight
from Cardiff to Nantes,

and we may never know.

(narrator): Investigators learn
of two similar cases
in the United States.

- In both cases...

...the pieces
of the turbocharger
only left score marks.

The tailpipes
were never punctured.

- We considered it unlikely
that a failure
of the turbocharger

would've allowed carbon monoxide
to enter the cabin.

- Well, what if the tailpipe
cracked on its own?

- Well, it is a pretty harsh
environment inside the engine.
- Exactly.

Heat, vibration.
Prime conditions
for a crack to develop.

- If you look at all
the separate components in there

for signs of failure,
or wear, et cetera,

and where necessary,
you'll replace components.

- A visual inspection
of the tailpipe is part
of their maintenance check.

- Uh, and the plane only flew
for 11 hours after its...
last inspection.

- Maintenance found
nothing wrong with the tailpipe
or the exhaust system.

- Not a lot of time
for a crack to develop.
Is it even possible?

- Huh.

(narrator): They study
other accidents for instances
of cracked tailpipes.

- Oh, look at this one.

(narrator): Investigators find
a disturbing case

of carbon monoxide leaking
into the cabin of a small plane.

- A crack in the exhaust formed
just six flying hours
after a maintenance inspection.

- Even if the mechanics
had carried out an inspection,

a crack may have developed
sufficient to cause
carbon monoxide to leak

into the cabin
during those 11 flying hours.

(narrator): They conclude
that a sudden crack
in the tailpipe

was the likeliest reason
carbon monoxide leaked
into the cabin.

- The maintenance inspection
they did on the Piper...
was a visual one.

(narrator):
Is a visual inspection
the safest way

to identify early signs
of cracking in a tailpipe?

- According
to the engine manufacturer,

the best way to test
for small cracks
is a pressure test.

(narrator):
To inspect the tailpipe,

a soapy solution is applied
to the exterior.

If bubbles form,
that means there's a crack.

- But is it a requirement
for a private operator?

- The FAA doesn't mandate it.
- Well...

what about a commercial one?

- It looks like a pressure test
is required

for... commercial operators.

- Had the aircraft been
maintained under regulations
for commercial use,

which was the way
it was actually being used,

it would've meant
that during the maintenance,

there was definitely
a documented pressure test

of the exhaust system.

- If this had been
a very small crack

that was missed
by a visual inspection...

...maintenance
may have caught it.

(narrator): The AAIB releases
its report on the crash.

It concludes
the pilot lost control

while turning the aircraft
to regain visibility,

which resulted
in an in-flight breakup.

Among the causes,

it points to a leak
of carbon monoxide
into the cabin.

It also cites
a lack of safety standards

from the operator
of the Piper Malibu
as a contributing factor.

As a result
of the AAIB's investigation,

the Civil Aviation Authority
launches a campaign
to raise awareness

of the dangers of grey charters.

David Henderson
is ultimately jailed
for his role in the accident.

- This was a real moment
for the industry to take a good,
hard look at itself,

to use that as an opportunity
to try to change things,

to try to make sure
that something like this
didn't happen again.

- There were a lot
of sporting organizations
for which...

grey charter might have been
part of the culture
of those organizations.

And I think this accident
made them sit up and take notice
about the risks

that their members were taking.

(narrator):
It was a risk that ultimately
took the life of Emiliano Sala,

a rising football star,

on the day he said goodbye
to his teammates in Nantes

and flew towards his new future.

Subtitling: difuze