Body found in the wreckage of footballer Sala's plane

A body was found in the wreckage of an aircraft that crashed into the Channel last month while it was carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot, British investigators said Wednesday.

The plane was discovered on the seabed of the Channel Sunday, but efforts to remove the body had been hampered by tidal conditions.

In a statement, the British Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) said that "under difficult conditions", this company and its specialized subcontractors had managed to recover the body, which had been sighted in the middle of the accident. 39; wreck.

The AAIB stated that the operation had been conducted "in the most dignified manner possible" and that the families had been informed of the progress of the work.

"The body is now being transferred to Portland to be badigned to the Dorset coroner," he said.

The statement stated whether the body was that of Sala or the pilot David Ibbotson, who were the only ones on board the plane.

"Unfortunately, attempts to recover the wreckage of the aircraft failed before the bad weather forced us to return the ROV to the ship," he added, referring to an unmanned vehicle.

Sala was about to join his new club, Cardiff City FC, after signing a £ 15m ($ 19.5m) deal.

The plane was en route to Cardiff from Nantes in France before disappearing from the radar on 21 January near the Channel Islands.