LONDON – The plane crash which killed soccer player Emiliano Sala was triggered when the pilot lost control and the plane broke up while flying too fast, an official investigation showed.
Sala, 28, had been en route from Nantes in western France on Jan. 21 to make his debut for Premier League team Cardiff City when the small aircraft he was travelling in disappeared over the English Channel.
Sala and the pilot of the fixed-engine plane David Ibbotson died in the crash over the English Channel. The crash happened just two days after the players signed a contract to play for Cardiff City.
"The pilot lost control of the aircraft during a manually flown turn," the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said. "The aircraft subsequently suffered an in-flight break-up while manoeuvring at an airspeed significantly in excess of its design manoeuvring speed."
"The pilot was probably affected by carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning," it added.