Cardiff City Footballer Feared Missing after aircraft disappeared near Channel Island

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MALIBU OWNERS NAMED

The WalesOnLine website (owned by Trinity Mirror Group Newspapers) has revealed more information about the ownership of the Piper Malibu. The news source says :-
"Investigators probing the plane crash that killed Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala are fully aware of who actually owned the aircraft.The ownership of the Piper Malibu N264DB plane has been the source of much speculation and mystery since it crashed into the English Channel on the night of January 21.

Now, Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc, a British-based Trustee firm who registered the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the USA, have issued a detailed statement for the first time.

The Norfolk-based company offers non-US citizens the ability to legally register their aircraft in the US. It then holds the plane in trust for the real owner, and promises never to pass on information about the owners to the public. The name of the actual owners of the Piper Malibu are not available on the FAA website.Until now, Southern Aircraft have refused to speak out in detail. But, in a statement to WalesOnline, they revealed more about the role they perform and said they had given details of the real owners to the Air Accident Investigation Branch. The issue of ownership may be central to establishing who is liable for the costs Cardiff City could yet have to bear amid their dispute over the £15m transfer fee with Nantes . WalesOnline understands the club are demanding answers to this question before deciding how to proceed.

A spokesperson for Southern Aircraft Consultancy said:-

: "Recent press reports have stated that ownership information has been removed from the FAA records, in order to occlude ownership details. We can categorically state that this is incorrect. As a business, we would never even consider doing this, even if it were requested by a client (which it has not been, in this case). No records or details have been removed from anywhere in relation to this aircraft. In fact, it is not possible to remove any such documentation from the FAA records, even if the aircraft owners had requested it (which they have not). "As an organisation, we do not exist to 'hide' aircraft ownership details. We exist simply to assist people with registering their aircraft on the FAA register. The comprehensive ownership details of aircraft registered in Trust - including details of any and all previous ownership transfers whilst on the FAA register - are part of the formal aircraft record at the FAA, as with any other aircraft registration (whether registered by a Trustee or not). To reiterate, Southern Aircraft Consultancy are the Trustee only for the aircraft, which is owned and operated by another party. Said party is responsible for the day to day operation of the aircraft as well as its maintenance. By law, as with any other company who holds client details, we cannot simply release those details to anyone that asks for them. We can only release them to those who have a legal right to it (for example, the AAIB, with whom we have been liaising regularly and to whom we provided all of the information that we hold on the aircraft and the owners immediately after being notified that it was missing).It would be inappropriate to comment further at this point, but again we extend our condolences to the families of those involved in the accident."