Pilot David Ibbotson Admitted He Was ‘A Bit Rusty’ Days Before Flight Carrying Emiliano Sala Went Missing

David Ibbotson, the pilot who is missing along with Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala after the plane they were travelling in went missing, said in the days before the flight that he was “rusty” after flying to France at the weekend.

Ibbotson, 60, wrote on his Facebook page on Monday that he had felt a “bit rusty” on the flight over to Nantes, and that he had struggled to get to grips with the Instrument Landing System (ILS) on the Piper PA-46 Malibu aircraft that disappeared on the return flight to Cardiff on Monday night.

Having tagged himself at Nantes Airport, where he and Sala departed from, Mr Ibbotson wrote in a comment to a friend: “Was not to (sic) bad when I got there but I’m a bit rusty with the ILS, in France now, I’ll pop and see you when I get back, your turn to buy coffee.”

The friend responded ‘rusty with the ILS?! I can’t believe that!” before Mr Ibbotson commented again to say: “You wanna bet, a little on the high side hehe, better than on the low side.”