Fly Legal Day marks six years since footballer Sala died in illegal charter crash

The Air Charter Association (ACA) is once again urging the industry to support its Fly Legal Day to raise awareness of illegal charter, following the deaths of professional footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot.
Sala and pilot David Ibbotson died when an illegally chartered aircraft crashed into the English Channel about 22 miles north of Guernsey in January 2019. The ACA is inviting its members to mark the six-year anniversary of their deaths. It first designated today as Fly Legal Day in 2022.
In a statement on LinkedIn The ACA said: “Today Tuesday 21 January is Fly Legal Day. The ACA is calling on all members & industry partners to join us in sharing the message, to raise awareness of the dangers of illegal charters and to help prevent future air tragedies.
“The date marks exactly 6 years since the tragic incident in which Premier League player Emiliano Sala and his pilot lost their lives, on what was an illegal charter flight.”
The businessman who organised the fatal flight, David Henderson, was found guilty of endangering the safety of an aircraft. Henderson, aged 69, of Hotham, East Riding, Yorkshire, UK was convicted at Cardiff crown court on October 28th 2021.
The court heard that Henderson had asked Ibbotson to fly the plane. While Ibbotson had regularly flown for him, he did not hold a Commercial Pilot’s License or a qualification to fly at night, and his rating to fly the single-engine Piper Malibu had expired.
To mark the anniversary, The ACA is asking the industry to show support on social media.