Actually the GEO Ocean Iii has positioned itself and is stationary at the intersection of all sonar tracks made today by the sonar ship FPV Morven. Its position is approx. 14nm bearing 300 degrees from the Casquets lighthouse.

The CAA and the DGAC know as much as we do about illegal public transportation. Their problem is to find a way to prosecute with reasonable chances to succeed. On many occasions they lost in court. Judges seem to follow politicians : "we want more business, let's take the rules down". The victims are the public (in the present case a highly respected and beloved young footballer) and to some extent the pilots who accept to play such a dangerous game.
All around in GA newcomers apply this simple scheme : let's buy a plane, finance it, and find people to rent it so that we can pay the bank with their money. If the plane flies often enough, it will also pay for maintenance and fixed costs. When the loan is finished, let's sell the plane and buy another one to do the same again. Well, that implies OPERATING an airplane, which is something they don't want to do, so they leave it up to isolated pilots in desperate need to build up hours. That's how it works. It's been like this for ages but worked mainly in closed circles such as sports. This seems to apply to the accidented aircraft.
But now, thanks to the internet, the same scoundrels have found a way to do it on a large scale. Just check out "www.airaffaires.fr". The website is dedicated to users who become "members" of club on line. Aircraft owners are invited to register their airplanes, desperate pilots are also invited to join. Then it is the member's job to organize the trip. The website is very active and the management reports a recent 2.1 M€ fund raising. Needless to say, the founder owns airplanes that are advertised on the website and fly a lot. An N registered MALIBU and a D registered JET PROP DLX, none of which is a suitable transport airplane. Everyone knows their payload is ridiculous but no one is there to check so they obviously fly overloaded very, very often.
The DGAC is investigating but they fear that legal action may not end up well...
Let's hope that SALA's accident will wake up some people at EASA because there will be more occurrence if nothing is done to stop this madness. And the number of AOC holder will decrease rapidly.

Do you have any evidence for that ?

The search tracks of both survey vessels today.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a92e2f73c2.jpg

my point is that we already have a great deal of checks and balances but if people are minded to break them then sometimes it ends badly. The issue is how things are enforced and how regulation is written with a rigor and attention such that it says what is intended. That way people who transgress can expect a consequence very many people know others who operate close to the wind and others find out usually when the tide has gone out and we read about it in an AAIB report. Ill leave you to read them for yourself however perhaps one start could be the warnings given about the man who died in his own AW139 in Norfolk. Why wasnt that dealt with years before?

That area, all the way up to, including east and south of the channel light vessel, was searched by 2 aircraft on the Tuesday morning following the accident. It was fairly windy on the Tuesday morning, and the sea wasn't 'calm'.

Yes not far off entering the St Peters port harbour, and GEO Ocean III is still stationary at the intersection of all the sonar tracks for Morven for today.

How much does a PA46 piston cost to hire these days . More than a PA28 or a C152 I`d have thought. Could your average gas fitter afford it. So who paid for the hire, if no money changed hands who owed whom a favour. And who found the gas fitter and handed him the keys. There seems so far a trio involved in that ensemble. The footballers agent, his son and a pilot who appears to have done all sorts of dare-does with puddle jumpers. Out of this trio who is the one who is in the know with aeroplanes, must be the dare-do puddle jumper bloke.
There was a time when jumping at any chance to fly and build up hours towards that left seat regular job made sense and offered an opportunity of a career change. I cannot in this instance how it would have made sense to a 59 year old.

Most of the cases where in the French Caribbeans where illegally transporting tourists within islands is routine. Almost all the procedures failed.

I would hazard a guess for money as he is rumoured to have numerous CCJ's outstanding for debt.

When I first got an FAA 61.75 (in 1987) it was restricted to "day VFR only", even if I had a UK Night Qualification. Later the "day" restriction was lifted. I don't know if that showed on the accessable FAA database. He may have been FAA night legal.

If that`s the case, then it increases the likelihood someone else was paying for the hire of the aircraft, the fuel and landing charges. Cannot be certain about money for pilot services, I thought plumbers have been minting it ever since the property boom, you cannot get one for love or money. Makes me speculate, maybe he was offered the PA46 free if he would just turn up for 5 minutes and fix a leaky tap at that mansion of the agent mentioned at an earlier post.

https://twitter.com/davidlmearns

According to the BBC, AAIB teams have "moved into location at the site to recover the aircraft"

interesting that they appear totally confident that they have found it without any visual confirmation.

Not really, that waste garden has been charted quite seriously and they would recognize if a diver snaps a screw off the u-boat down there ...
With the very small search area based on radar data it was to be expected to last one or two days only.
More interesting, will they inspect or salvage? By seafarers tradition they would let the sea take care of the dead to rest in peace.

Chicken house
 

Heard on the news this morning (4th Feb) that an ROV has been down and confirmed the registration number, surprise was expressed they found it in big pieces, they were expecting a debris field. Also heard there was no sign of the occupants.

It always makes me sad to see a man kicking a soccer ball perceived as 'high profile'.
So many real everyday heroes around us and we made such gamers gods ...

Yes, I agree from a technical standpoint it will/would be interesting to evaluate the aircraft.
I not sure a salvage is necessary for that, but it depends on the condition of the wreckage.

Just hope they do not find out they left the aircraft after ditching, just to die in the waters.

If no bodies spotted and a/c is in one piece as stated then chances are both got out maybe OK but the sea took them - very sad if that is the case

Given the stories of the pilot meandering, I somehow doubt he was able to correctly depressurize the cabin before an emergency ditching, am I thinking too bad?

Position reported for the wreckage spot on the DCT course line?

The aircraft would not have been pressurised by the time it got to sea level with the engine at idle, it relies on the engine turbo charger system to pressurise it.

I am type rated on that particular aircraft type.

Thought it was a non-pressurised model;;;;anyway would not be pressurised much,if any, at 5000 ft...

It was a pressurised Malibu

So then you know that having the pressurisation controller set at 500 feet above the airfield elevation of departure would mean once the aircraft was descending towards SL and below 500 feet give or take variations in local pressure altitude that the hull should be de-pressurized below 500 feet or have very little pressure remaining in the hull, bar the squat switch not being activated as the gear was probably up for the ditching would leave a very minor positive pressure in the hull.







.

I'm not sure I've read anywhere that, 'there were no signs of the occupants'. The opposite in fact, AAIB quotes 'one body is visible'. That, of course doesn't mean there aren't two.
BBC:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-47118340

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7e49dda714.jpg

The number of times I have sat waiting for it to bleed down on landing to be able to open the door is beyond a joke. The squat switch is unreliable to say the least. It only takes a tiny differential to stop that door opening from first had experience. But its a moot point as they have found at least one body inside the wreckage.

The door seems open?