Organiser of flight which killed Emiliano Sala found guilty over deaths

He will be sentenced next month.

The man who organised the flight in which footballer Emiliano Sala and a pilot died has been found guilty. David Henderson, 67, of Hotham, East Riding of Yorkshire, was found guilty of endangering the safety of an aircraft after a trial at Cardiff Crown Court. Sala, 28, and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, died in the crash in the English Channel in January 2019. The BBC reports that Henderson will be sentenced on 12 November. Sala was involved in a £15m transfer to Cardiff City from Nantes and was travelling between the two cities at the time of his death. He and Ibbotson, the pilot of the plane, both died when the single-engine Piper Malibu plunged into the English Channel. During the trial, the court was told that Ibbotson did not hold a commercial pilot's licence, a qualification to fly at night, and that his rating to fly the single-engine plane had expired. The flight had been set up by Henderson and football agent William McKay. Henderson was accused of failing to follow safety regulations in organising the flight. He denied acting in a reckless or negligent manner likely to endanger the plane the two men were travelling in, but a jury found him guilty of the charge against him. During the trial, the court had heard that the plane was not authorised to carry commercial passengers and the jury were told that, having found out about the plane going down, Henderson text a number of people telling them to remain silent, warning that the crash would "open a can of worms". Related links:

• Pilot who crashed plane that killed Emiliano Sala was ordered not to fly
• Man pleads guilty to Emiliano Sala flight charge