Emiliano Sala: Search for Cardiff City striker and pilot abandoned

The search was called off after a fourth unsuccessful day since the aircraft disappeared off radars on Monday night north of Guernsey - updates from Thursday

Fans gather in Nantes Royal Square to lay yellow tulips during vigil for Emiliano Sala

Follow the latest updates as the search for Emiliano Sala, a pilot and a missing plane was called off on Thursday afternoon without any trace of the missing Cardiff City striker in the English Channel.

The search was called off after a fourth unsuccessful day since the aircraft disappeared off radars on Monday night north of Guernsey. After officials confirmed that the priority of the search changed from a rescue mission to a recovery operation, a statement from police said that Thursday search will focus on coastal areas of the Channel Islands and northern France, yet this turned up nothing linked to the missing aircraft.

Cardiff City have said that they are “realistic” about the fate of Sala, who joined the club in a £15m deal last weekend, and revelations about the aeroplane that was carrying Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson continue to emerge, including a voice message left by Sala to his friends in Argentina in the final hours before he disappeared complaining about the condition of the plane and his fear for his safety. Follow the live updates below.

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[24 January 2019 11:49 · Jack de Menezes]

Channel Islands Air Search chief John Fitzgerald has spoken again this morning to provide details on their search, which started over the uninhabited island of Burzou before moving towards France.

Despite reports of trails in the the air, Fitzgerald says that the island has been searched "many times" and they are convinced that no one is on the island, with the patterns almost certain to be left from the aircrafts searching the area. He said:

It is is really a puffin reserve, it is tiny but you can land on it. The plane and helicopters have been over many times since Monday night, but they haven’t seen anything in that area.

It is only a few hundred metres long and it has been saturated by helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. We are airborne at the moment searching in that area. The flares I have seen pictures of are most likely aircraft trails.

[24 January 2019 12:14 · Jack de Menezes]

Cardiff City will not be granted any additional time to sign a new striker in the transfer window by the Premier League, with just a week to go until the 31 January cut-off.

Chief executive Ken Choo has spoken to Talksport this morning to say that he has spoken with the Premier League about the situation regarding Emiliano Sala's disappearance, with Cardiff spending £15m on the striker last Saturday.

However, despite admitting that the situation is proving a difficult one to handle, Choo confirmed that they will not be granted any extra time to make another signing.

I think from the club's perspective, we are managing the situation but we have another department that has to continue with looking at the transfers.

I am basically multi-tasking three or four jobs at once. It is really difficult physically and emotionally and mentally to cope in a situation like this.

We have to segregate our minds into looking for Emiliano, segregate our minds into helping the family - and the club is trying its best to provide the most care for the family and giving them the information they want, we want to tell them all the facts line-by-line.

We are still running a business which continues, we still have to meet the transfer deadline.

We have spoken to the Premier League on how tough it is for us to cope given there are eight days to go [until the deadline] and we have been watching Emiliano for months and we got it over the line finally.

And now we have eight days to go and we don't really know how to cope with this scenario but we have to meet the deadline.

The bottom line from the Premier League is that you have to meet the deadline like everyone else.

[24 January 2019 12:35 · Jack de Menezes]

'The dressing room is pretty sombre'Choo has also spoken about the situation at Cardiff among the team who were expecting Sala to join them this week.

I went to see the first-team yesterday. I have to ensure the manager is fine, the coaching team is fine, the office staff are fine and the players are fine.

I spoke to the captain [Sean Morrison] and some of the leaders and they are trying to cope with the situation. The dressing room is pretty sombre, they are all shocked with the situation.

As chief executive, I have to try and pull them together, to try to get over this and we have a game to play next week.

Everyone knows it is difficult, the players are aware of all the facts but we still have to pull up our socks and get on with it.

[24 January 2019 12:55 · Jack de Menezes]

[24 January 2019 13:20 · Jack de Menezes]

Speaking to BBC Radio Guernsey, harbour master Captain David Barker has confirmed that the number of vessels and aircraft has been scales back on Thursday, with just one plane on the lookout for any sign of the missing aircraft.

Air Search One, our search aircraft, is about to launch.

He will do a coastal search up around a Alderney, Burhou, down the French coast, including the north coast of Jersey today and back over Sark.

We’re not launching any lifeboats today, nor are we requesting any assets from the UK or France.

We consider that the hopes of finding someone alive have faded to almost zero now.

But we are not giving up. We are going to conduct this sweep of the coastline and we are targeting a life raft. We will review our continued search plan as soon as that is complete.

[24 January 2019 13:37 · Ben Burrows]

Guernsey Police have released the following update including news of a search on foot.

They say a search of the island of Burhou, 1.4 miles northwest of Alderney, had not found anything.

"The island of Burhou has been searched by foot," reads the 1.20pm update.

"No trace of the aircraft or those on board has been found.

"Further information will be released once it is available."

[24 January 2019 13:56 · Ben Burrows]

The pilot flying the Channel Islands Air Search plane believes there's "absolutely no chance" of finding Sala or the pilot alive.

Mike Tidd told ITV News: "The area has been well covered, there is absolutely no chance of finding anybody alive now.

"The only thing that we might be able to do would be to pin-point where the aircraft went in.

"But I think the radar trace is going to be the best opportunity of doing that."

[24 January 2019 14:21 · Jack de Menezes]

One of the pilots involved in the search, Mike Tidd, has spoken to ITV regarding the possibility of anyone being found alive, of which be believes there is "absolutely no chance" that either Emiliano Sala or David Ibbotson being found safe.

He's also given some details of the next steps in the search, which looks set to be ended at some stage in the near future after a comprehensive investigation across the waters where the plane is believed to have gone down. Instead, he believes that the plane's radar trace will be the best option of trying to locate the wreckage.

The area has been very well covered, there is absolutely no chance of finding anybody alive now, the only thing that we might be able to do would be to pinpoint where the aircraft went in, but I think the radar trace is going to be the best opportunity of doing that.

[24 January 2019 15:21 · Jack de Menezes]

BREAKINGGuernsey police say search for missing soccer player Emiliano Sala has ended; chances of his survival at this stage extremely remote

[24 January 2019 15:26 · Jack de Menezes]

A statement issued by Guernsey Police says:

My team have just me to review the search and rescue operation which has been underway since the plane disappeared on Monday night.

Despite the best efforts of air and search assets from the Channel Islands, UK and France, which has covered an area of approximately 1,700sq. miles – with a significant amount of this searched more than once – and having examined mobile phone data and satellite imagery, we have been unable to find any trace of the aircraft, the pilot or the passenger.

There has been over 24 hours of continuous searching, with 80 hours combined flying time across three planes and five helicopters. Two lifeboats have also been involved, as well as assistance from various passing ships and fishing boats.

We reviewed all the information available to us, as well as knowing what emergency equipment was on board, and have taken the difficult decision to end the search.