There seems to be no shortage of conspiracists willing to exploit this deeply saddening accident to promote their pathalogical ideas; the latest crackpot theory, emerging in January, is that the pilot jumped out of the aircraft, in flight, before the crash into the sea 22 miles north of Guernsey on 21 January 2019, and seems to be based solely on the fact that he had training as a skydiver!
As recent developments in the Inquest reflect, the real explanations for the accident are likely to be complex and systemic, regulatory and organisational, not simply a result of wrongdoing by a lone individual. Aviation and Football have questions to answer, not least to the Family, but also to their communities and the public. It has now been confirmed by the AAIB that the flight was itself an illegal operation. The accident itself was different in many respects from that of the Nimrod loss, but it may represent a similar opportunity to learn new lessons (and revisit old ones) in the context of commercial aircraft operations. It was, on any measured view, entirely avoidable.
The focus now is on the Inquest. At a Pre-Inquest Review (PIR) on 16 March 2020, the Chief Coroner for Dorset, Mrs Rachel Griffin, considered the scope of the inquest causational inquiry and the range of Interested Persons (IPs). She accepted submissions (on behalf of the Sala Family) that the manufacturer (Piper Aircraft Inc) and the aircraft maintainers ought to be invited to participate as IPs, and she will also approach the owner of the aircraft, the operator and its delegate, and the arranger of the flight, to be IPs. They will join the Sala and Ibbotson Families, the CAA, the AAIB and the aircraft insurers, the existing IPs. There may be as many as 12 participants recognised at the final hearing.
Cardiff City Football Club was also recognised as an IP, on its own application. It is important to note that Cardiff continues to deny that it was Emiliano's employer at the time of the accident and claims that his previous employer, Nantes FC, is responsible for his death.
The Coroner also determined that the initial scope of the inquiry ought to include a considerable range of potential causative factors such as the arrangement of the (illegal) flight, the aircraft operation, the pilot's qualifications, the condition and manufacture of the aircraft, including design and maintenance issues, and the precautions against carbon monoxide poisoning. Many of these factors, and the evidence of their roles, have been debated at length in press articles and other media.
The Coroner set a provisional date for the final hearing of 8 March 2021, with a jury. She rejected a suggested time estimate of 3 weeks, increasing it to 4/5 weeks. She also laid down dates for a further four PIR hearings, in part to manage the disclosure of documents.
The result of the Coroner's decisions, as to the range of interested parties and the boundaries of the causational inquiry, is an inquest of breadth and intensity which has a real chance of exposing the deeper organisational and systemic failings in Aviation and Football which contributed to this tragic accident. And it is hoped that, in so doing, it will identify lessons which will protect the public in the future.
Matthew Reeve instructed by Hickman & Rose, is representing the Sala Family
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