Originally Posted by
uxb99
What I don't understand with this unfortunate incident is the apparent complicity of the footballer in question (not blaming him here, this is just an opinion, observation) to fly in the aircraft in the first place.
Obviously with hindsight but if it was me, I would have insisted a main carrier first class with all the bells and whistles. After all he was worth several million. Academic of course but flying with a single pilot in a small aircraft doesn't seem to fit the footballer lifestyle?
Time was critical in the sequence of events. Sala had returned to Nantes to say goodbye to former team mates. This was arranged as I recall by the agent Willie McKay or his son and done as a favour. Previously in the chain of events a biz jet had been used, perhaps Sala was expecting that too rather than the Malibu.
Sala had to be back in Cardiff for
PR/ training on the day after the accident, and left Nantes late. As the aircraft had delivered him ‘safely’ southbound, and time was against him, not unreasonable for him to assume the same northbound. Let’s assume the cowboy pilot looked and sounded professional when customer facing, rather than the incompetent one that was the truthful position.
Easy to spot with the benefits of hindsight and background knowledge. Looking at Cardiffs Met both actual and forecast vs pilot experience/currency, I don’t think a safe arrival was in anyway assured either.
To a 28 year old soccer player, under time pressure, probably not wanting to let the new club down on his first day in the office, and now entering the big leagues nowhere like as obvious, hence boarding the aircraft.