On January 21, the plane carrying Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala crashed into the English Channel, killing Sala and pilot David Ibbotson.

After a lengthy search, the plane was eventually located, and talk turned to what would happen with the £15 million transfer fee agreed between Nantes and Cardiff City.

If you want an idea of how ruthless and dirty the world of football agents really is, that story above is for you.

Police launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death after his remains were retrieved on February 7, and there has now been some development on that front.

Over to the Independent:

Detective Inspector Simon Huxter, of Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), said: “We have carried out a wide-ranging investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mr Sala and continue to work with partner agencies including the Civil Aviation Authority.

“As part of this investigation we have to consider whether there is any evidence of any suspected criminality and as a result of our enquiries we have today, Wednesday 19 June 2019, arrested a 64-year-old man from the North Yorkshire area on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act.

“He is assisting with our enquiries and has been released from custody under investigation…

The police have urged people to avoid too much speculation, but “manslaughter by an unlawful act”, combined with a deadly air crash, will no doubt make for tabloid fodder.

For that fodder, the Daily Mail have you covered:

David Henderson, 64, from York, was feared dead with the Cardiff City footballer…

Mr Henderson, who regularly worked for British football agent Willie McKay, was then forced to post a Facebook message the next day stating that rumours of his death were untrue.

After the plane vanished there was confusion after it emerged that the original flight plan for the doomed flight from Nantes to Cardiff named Mr Henderson [below] as the pilot.

But he pulled out and his friend Dave Ibbotson, 59, from Scunthorpe, took the controls instead, taking off ten hours later than planned.

MailOnline later revealed that Mr Ibbotson held a private pilot’s licence but not a commercial one required to carrying paying passengers – and should not have been flying at night or in bad weather.

Mr Henderson was arrested yesterday by Dorset Police and has since been released from custody and is under investigation.

Ibbotson had also told friends that he was “a bit rusty” with the plane’s flying instruments, and did not have a ‘night rating’ on his UK private pilot permit:

A source said: ‘Flying outside the restrictions of your licence is illegal and that’s likely to affect the insurance cover for the flight.’

This would mean that Mr Ibbotson may have breached the terms of his licence as European regulations define nighttime as ‘the time from half an hour after sunset until half an hour before sunrise’.

In April, Sala’s father, Horacio, passed away from a heart attack at his home in Argentina.

A tragic story from start to finish.

[sources:independent&dailymail]