Pilot David Ibbotson, 59, wrote off a Piper Cherokee with the belly flop on an exercise simulating an engine failure
THE pilot lost at sea with £15million Cardiff City player Emiliano Sala once crashed a plane on the runway after failing to lower his landing gear.
David Ibbotson, 59, wrote off a Piper Cherokee with the belly flop on an exercise simulating an engine failure in 1995.
An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report does not name David — but sources have confirmed it was him.
The search for David, of Crowle, Lincs, and Argentinian Sala, 28, resumed off Guernsey at the weekend.
Their light aircraft vanished eight days ago near the Channel Islands. Sala’s family say they still have hope he will be found.
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock said he had been on similar flights, adding: “I do think I had that pilot, who I thought was a fabulous pilot.”
The flyer admitted he was a "bit rusty" with the instrument landing system before the Piper Malibu disappeared from radar screens eight days ago taking the star from his old club Nantes in France to Wales.
He held a basic private pilot's licence and had 246 hours of flying experience when he took the Cherokee up at Hibaldstow Airfield on May 9 24 years ago.
The Department for Transport, which runs the AAIB, refused to comment on individuals and Skydive Hibaldstow did not respond to calls.
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