Emiliano Sala crash: Ship carrying unidentified body docks in UK port for autopsy
AN UNIDENTIFIED body found in the wreckage of the plane which crashed while it was taking Emiliano Sala from Nantes to Cardiff has arrived to the UK aboard a search boat.
Emiliano Sala's body collected by ambulance in Dorset
The GEO Ocean III was spotted docking in Dorset on Thursday morning. Minutes later, the body was transferred to a private ambulance and taken to the local coroner in Portland. Officials will conduct an autopsy on the unidentified body found in the wreckage to determine whether it is Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala, 28, or the pilot, David Ibbotson, 59. The whereabouts of the second body remains unknown.
The Piper Malibu N264DB that was flying from France to the UK on Monday, January 21, was found two weeks later, on February 4 off Guernsey, more than 200 feet below water.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said the specialists conducting the recovering operations worked in "challenging conditions", but carried them out in "as dignified a way as possible".
Due to strong winds and the cold temperatures, the rescuers weren't able to pull out of the waters what remains of the aircraft.
READ MORE: Emiliano Sala crash: Body recovered - but search team don't know if it's player or pilot
The AAIB said: "Following extensive visual examination of the accident site using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV), it was decided to attempt recovery operations.
"In challenging conditions, the AAIB and its specialist contractors successfully recovered the body previously seen amidst the wreckage.
"The operation was carried out in as dignified a way as possible and the families were kept informed of progress.
"Unfortunately, attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful before poor weather conditions forced us to return the ROV to the ship.
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"The weather forecast is poor for the foreseeable future and so the difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close.
"The body is currently being taken to Portland to be passed into the care of the Dorset Coroner.
"Although it was not possible to recover the aircraft, the extensive video record captured by the ROV is expected to provide valuable evidence for our safety investigation."
An official search was called off on January 24, after Guerney's Harbour Master said the chances of survival of Sala and Ibbotson were "extremely remote".
But a new operation was launched days later, privately-funded by marine scientist and oceanographer David Mearns.
Mr Mearns's team located the aircraft within two hours since their search was launched because they had been looking for a static object rather than in a dynamic environment searching for survivors.
He said: "No-one should walk away with the impression that the Coastguard and also the Channel Islands air search did anything other than a professional job."
On Tuesday, Sala's devastated father Horacio said: "We hope that they can rescue him as soon as possible in order to find out what happened, or at least to have some degree of certainty."