Emiliano Sala: The Cardiff striker and pilot David Ibbotson's families know they're dead, says oceanographer Mearns
David Mearns, oceanographer and
director of Bluewater Recoveries, who headed the renewed search efforts to
locate the then missing plane carrying Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson, says
both Sala and Ibbotson's families know they are dead.
Mearns and
his company were able to locate the plane just hours after the search had
commenced, with video footage revealing a body on board the wreckage. All hope
of miraculously finding the pair alive has been lost as Mearns confirmed the
priority is to try to recover the bodies.
In an
interview with Argentine publication Clarin, Mearns said, “What these families know at the moment is that
both [Sala and Ibbotson] are dead and what they want is to recover their
bodies."
“The most important thing is the bodies. Recovering
the bodies is the most important thing for both families. The plane is a
different matter, that's related only to determining the cause of the
accident.”
Mearns offered some insight into how the bodies
would be recovered, but stated that he was no longer involved in the operation,
adding that the recovery of the bodies would be conducted by the Air Accidents
Investigation Branch (AAIB).
"What I know is that they only have one body,
that's everything I know. They (AAIB) tried to recover the body during the
night and I know they had some trouble.
"If they are doing it now, they're doing it with a
robotic vehicle, operated remotely by a pilot and connected to the ship with a
cable. It has cameras and microphones and has robotic arms.
"The issue is where the body is; that is to say if
it is free or if it's stuck in the seats. They can recover the body in
different ways: they could possibly use a hook or a rope. You could also
potentially use a basket. There are many ways of doing it. As far as I know,
there are no divers.
"The family will be very grateful for their
efforts. Now, we're praying for them to succeed.”
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