The part-time pilot missing with £15million footballer Emiliano Sala was brought in at the 11th hour, touted for 'odd flying jobs' on Facebook and had unpaid debts of more than £18,000, it was revealed today.
The Piper Malibu carrying Sala from Nantes to Cardiff vanished over Alderney on Monday night and is feared to have plunged into one of the Channel's most perilous areas, known as Hurd’s Deep.
British submarine HMS Affray sits on the seabed of the 600ft deep underwater valley after sinking in 1951 and lies next to tonnes of radioactive waste, chemical weapons and munitions dumped into its depths after both world wars.
Today it emerged that pilot Dave Ibbotson, 60, a father of four boiler engineer and sometime wedding DJ, had four outstanding county court judgments, totalling £18,000 at the time of the crash.
MailOnline revealed yesterday Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) is investigating whether the flight chartered by the son of mega-agent Willie McKay was legal - because Mr Ibbotson was not licensed to carry paying passengers.
A friend told The Sun: 'I always thought he was a better plumber than he was a pilot. I think we knew he did the odd bit of flying on the side to earn a bit of crust — but nothing as big as the France job.'
Officials at Nantes-Atlantique airport have insisted that David Henderson, a highly experienced pilot in his 60s, was set to take the controls of the Piper PA-46 Malibu on Monday night - but it appears Mr Ibbotson stepped in at the 11th hour.
But he pulled out, leaving Mr Ibbotson to fly Sala, 28, to Wales, where he had been due to take part in his first training sessions with his new club.
Mr Henderson posted a message on Facebook on Tuesday night reading: ‘Contrary to press reports, I am not dead!!!’ He then deleted the account and declined interviews.
The airman, from Scunthorpe, often flew skydivers to jump sites, and belonged to three 'ferry flight' Facebook groups where companies advertise flying jobs.
He had worked for Mark McKay - son of former mega agent Willie McKay - who played a part in arranging Sala's flight, before using the same plane. He flew Nice FC general manager Julien Fournier from Surrey to the French port of Marseille in the single-engined US-registered Piper last year.
Investigators are to probe the licence of missing part-time pilot Dave Ibbotson who flew the doomed aircraft that vanished over the Channel, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.
The news came after the bereft sister of missing £15million footballer Emiliano Sala sobbed today after she learned the search for him was called off and said: 'I know he's still alive. He would never give up'.
Sala, 28, and Ibbotson, 60, are both feared dead after coastguards said search efforts were now focused on recovery, with no hope of finding survivors.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) has confirmed it will look into whether the flight chartered by the son of mega-agent Willie McKay was legal.
Emiliano Sala's younger sister Romina broke down at a press conference in Cardiff yesterday after flying into the Welsh capital from Argentina to meet his club bosses.
The six-seater Piper Malibu vanished off the coast of Alderney on Monday at 8.30pm but 72 hours on, harbour master Captain David Barker said air and sea searches are over because 'the chances of survival at this stage are extremely remote'.
Ships passing through the Channel are now being asked to look out for debris - but Sala's family are furious at the decision to stop searching for the 28-year-old.
In emotional scenes today outside the St David's Hotel in Cardiff, his sister Romina Sala begged: 'Please, please, please don't stop the search.'
She told the media: 'We understand the facts and we really appreciate the efforts.
'We want to say thanks to the two clubs and everyone who is looking for Emiliano, but my message is please, please, please don't stop with the search. For me, they are still alive.
'It is very difficult to express my feelings at the moment because it is really hard.
'We have had a lot of support from the two clubs and I thank all the fans for their efforts, but deep down in the bottom of my heart I know that Emiliano – who is a fighter – is still alive.
'I know Emiliano and the pilot are somewhere in the middle of the channel. We are not going to give up.'
She added: 'The last time I spoke to him was on Monday before he said farewell to the Nantes players. He was really excited about coming to Cardiff and we were talking all day.'
Captain Barker responded by saying: 'I understand Emiliano Sala's family are not content. But I am absolutely confident we could not have done any more'.
Meanwhile Sala's ex-girlfriend, who after his disappearance blamed the 'football mafia' in a hastily-deleted online post, reiterated today that she found the incident 'all very strange'.
Victoria's Secret model Berenice Schkair, said on social media: 'Please ask in all the world's media that they don't cancel the search, that President Macri seeks justice, and that they don't stop looking for Emiliano Sala.
She later added, via a text exchange with an Argentinian journalist: 'I'd last seen him a fortnight ago and was getting to know him. We were beginning a relationship.
'For me this is all very strange. A plane can't disappear just like that. This happened at the best time in his life. It seems odd that he was in a plane in those conditions. But I prefer to wait now to see what happens.'
Tonight in a statement Cardiff City FC said the club reported the calling off of the search 'with a heavy heart'.
Club owner Tan Sri Vincent Tan said: 'Monday evening's news shook everyone at Cardiff City FC to the core. We were looking forward to providing Emiliano with the next step in his life and career.
'Those who met Emiliano described a good-natured and humble young man who was eager to impress in the Premier League.
'The response from the football community has been truly touching and we place on record our sincere thanks to those who have sent messages of support.
'We also thank everyone involved with the search and rescue operation, and continue to pray for Emiliano, David Ibbotson and their families.'
Dave Ibbotson holds a British private pilot's licence that allows him to fly passengers between airports as long as he doesn't profit from any journey.
But if he was paid a fee amounting to more than his fuel costs and expenses to take Sala between France and Britain would be classed a commercial flight.
It came as the missing Premier League star's heartbroken sister Romina met with Cardiff City officials, including manager Neil Warnock, having flown in from Argentina overnight as hope fades for her brother.
This afternoon a pilot involved in the search for the missing plane said there is 'no chance' of finding survivors.
Mike Tidd, from Channel Islands Air Search, told ITV: 'The area has been very well covered, there is absolutely no chance of finding anybody alive now, the only thing that we might be able to do would be to pinpoint where the aircraft went in, but I think the radar trace is going to be the best opportunity of doing that.'
Mr Ibbotson passed his pilot's test in America in 2014. The Federal Aviation Authority register in the US says he holds a British private pilot's licence not a commercial licence needed for scheduled or 'paid for' flights.
An AAIB spokesman said today that as part of its investigation they will 'establish the details of the booking and its operational arrangements'.
As part of the probe the Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates pilots' licences, will also be asked to confirm Mr Ibbotson had the instrument qualifications to fly 'blind' at night or in bad weather, and whether he was was properly insured.
The CAA today said it could not discuss the case or the missing pilot's licence for data protection reasons.
Mark McKay, who was acting on behalf of Sala's club FC Nantes, chartered the flight and Sala's French agent Meissa N'Diaye also helped with the arrangements.
It is understood they used a company to organise the flight.
Mr Ibbotson, a gas engineer from Scunthorpe, was one of the roster of three or four pilots regularly used to fly footballers to France and may also have carried jockeys between race meetings.
Mr McKay said in a statement last night: 'I can confirm that when Emiliano made myself and his agent Meissa N'Diaye aware that he wished to travel back to Nantes following his medical and signing on Friday, I began to look into arranging a private flight to take him to Nantes on Saturday morning.
'That evening it was confirmed a plane was available to fly Emiliano on Saturday which could remain in Nantes until he was due to return to Cardiff on Monday and train on Tuesday.'
If investigators believe the doomed flight breached the Air Navigation Order act the Civil Aviation Authority has the power prosecute any individual involved in a booking.
Past cases have seen pilots or aviation companies who organised the flights in the dock - so is unlikely to lead to Mr McKay or Mr N'Dyiaye facing prosecution. Previous cases have led to large fines and prison sentences of up to a year.
Mr Ibbotson, understood to be a part-time pilot who has also worked as a gas engineer and wedding DJ, is said to have flown Sala to Wales when the footballer agreed to sign last Friday.
The 60-year-old, nicknamed 'Dibbo', has three children and lived with wife Nora near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. According to his Facebook account he checked into a hotel next to Nantes Airport on Saturday night and stayed until Monday.
He is said to be a highly-experienced pilot who specialises in private flights and parachute expeditions but it is unclear how many hours he has flown.
The law does allow private licence pilots to fly strangers who agree to help cover the cost of the trip - but crucially the pilot must prove they were planning to fly to the destination already and cannot make any profit on top.
The loophole has led to the rise of Uber-inspired websites connecting passengers with pilots to reduce the price of private flights between the UK and Europe from around £10,000 to £1,000 or less.
The most popular website offering this service is Wingly, who confirmed to MailOnline today that Sala's flight was not booked through them.
Cardiff City today reiterated that it offered to get Sala to the UK from Paris - but the player told them he already had a flight booked.
Club CEO Ken Choo said: 'We made offers for Emiliano to fly on commercial [flights] from Paris but the player said 'don't worry about that, I have alternative arrangements, I will see you at the [training] ground on Tuesday.
'He requested our club officials pick him up from the airport in Cardiff on Monday night after touchdown at 8.45pm.
'On hindsight, we should have pushed but we had communicated with the player and we had to respect the wishes of the player. I think that is very important, we did not want to make the player uncomfortable on any arrangements'.
The missing plane carrying football star Emiliano Sala may have stalled in mid air and crashed into the sea due to a deadly build-up of ice on the wings, aviation experts have said.
The Sun reported that one aviation expert said: 'There are reports that the footballer was texting saying the aircraft is shaking and breaking up are classic signs of icing on the wings'.
'The pilot is most likely wrestling with a stall at 2,300ft.
'It is likely, though, that the aircraft hit the water in one piece otherwise debris would have quickly been found.'
The single-prop plane had been flying at 5,000 feet before requesting a descent to 2,300ft from Jersey's air traffic controllers. It reached that lower altitude before dropping off radar without any further radio contact.
Former pilot Alastair Rosenschein also said the plane may have become iced-up in the Arctic blast currently sweeping across northern Europe including the UK and France.
He said: 'It's already a fairly risky crossing to do in a single engine aircraft, especially in winter and definitely at night. There are icing problems too.
'It's a strange thing to do though to go and fly over water with one engine at night in winter because if your engine goes you're going in the water'.
It came after it emerged the pilot of the plane, which was chartered by the son of a former football mega-agent, said he was 'a bit rusty' with its landing system hours before the doomed flight.
Mr Ibbotson, 60, admitted to a friend on Facebook he had approached the runway 'on the high side' - but joked, tragically: 'Better than on the low side'.
The American FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) records Ibbotson as having a British private pilot's licence, issued in 2014, which entitled him to fly the single-engine aircraft. It is not a commercial licence, which would be required for scheduled flights.
It came as aviation experts claimed that the Piper Malibu, the model of plane Sala was travelling in, had a 'questionable' safety record with 55 fatal crashes including 24 since 2000.
His plane itself, registered as N264DB and built in 1984, is registered in the United States via a Norfolk company, Southern Aircraft Consultancy, which charges £450 per year to register their aircraft with the FAA.
A member of staff at the firm today refused to identify the individual or company owning the aircraft.
She told MailOnline: 'They have asked us not to speak to the press. We don't have any comment. We don't have anything to do with the aircraft other than the fact that we registered it for them'.
Three years ago the Piper aircraft was delivered to the UK from Spain by David Henderson, a British pilot.
He told the BBC at the time: 'One of the problems [of flying over water] is that ice can build up on the aircraft and if it gets too great then it would stop flying, and the only way to get rid of ice is to descend to warmer air.'
