By Tracey Kandohla and Martin Robinson From Mail Online UK

• EXCLUSIVE: Airfield owner Humphrey Penney revealed craft had ‘a lot of problems’ and regular pilot David Henderson ‘unhappy with the maintenance’
• Mr Penney asked to give a second opinion on the Piper PA-46 Malibu last year
• He following today’s report published by UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch
• Footballer and his pilot David Ibbotson were exposed to ‘deadly’ levels of CO
• Sala’s blood had 58% C0 reading – 50% causes seizures, heart attack and death 

A doomed plane which leaked carbon monoxide poisoning footballer Emiliano Sala and his pilot before crashing into the sea had previously been so riddled with faults that an engineer refused to repair it, saying: ‘It was not fit to be flown.’

Airfield owner Humphrey Penney revealed the craft had ‘a lot of problems’ and regular pilot David Henderson was ‘unhappy with the maintenance.’

Mr Penney, who is also a licensed engineer, was asked to give a second opinion on the stricken Piper PA-46 Malibu in summer last year.

He spoke out for the first time following today’s interim report published by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch which showed that 28-year-old Argentinian striker Sala and his pilot David Ibbotson were exposed to deadly levels of the toxic gas even before the private plane plunged into the English Channel.

Emiliano Sala and his pilot David Ibbotson were exposed to fatal levels of carbon monoxide in the private plane that crashed into the Channel on January 21 this year, a bombshell report by the UK’s Air Accident branch  revealed today

The wreckage of the Piper Malibu still sits at the bottom of the Channel (pictured) – 220ft down – and Sala’s family say news of his poisoning means it must be recovered for more investigationAAIB: Emiliano Sala had carbon monoxide poisoning before plane crashLoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipMuteCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time1:04FullscreenNeed Text

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Mr Penney said: ‘What happened it all so sad and tragic. We had deep concerns about the plane when we looked it at a year ago. We nearly took it on but didn’t because there were so many problems with it.’

Mr Henderson, originally thought to be the pilot who perished on the plane, had taken it to Sandtoft Airport in Belton, North Lincolnshire, on behalf of the owner chartered accountant Faye Kelly.

Sandtoft boss Mr Penney, recalling his examination of the plane, said: ‘Christ, this is awful! A lot needs doing.’ He added: ‘The hydraulic motor was a shambles and the flaps, autopilot and de-icing system weren’t working and there were several other problems.

Airfield owner Humphrey Penney (pictured) revealed the craft had ‘a lot of problems’ and regular pilot David Henderson was ‘unhappy with the maintenance’

‘There was a long list of things things that needed doing and it was going to cost an awful lot of money to put it right, in the region of £14,000 to £20,000.

‘It was not in a fit state to be flown for a passenger but only in an emergency a short distance for maintenance and to get it fixed.’

The American craft registered to a Trust with a beneficial British owner, Ms Keely from Bonsall, Derbyshire – a pilot herself – had come to Mr Penney for a second expert opinion from Retford Gamston Airport in Gamston, Nottinghamshire, where it had been based long term.

Mr Penney said: ‘It was moved here for a relatively short period and we then sent it to another organisation for the recommended work to be done. I can’t comment on what work was later done.’

The plane was moved to nearby Sturgate Airfield in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. No one was available to comment today when approached by MailOnline.

Mr Penney added: ‘I cannot say if the maintenance was done thoroughly and properly and if it was all fixed but the plane would have had an annual inspection at the end of the year. If all was good and dandy the plane should have flown safely.

‘I know a very large bill for over £10,000 was presented to Faye.’

Mr Penney, is now helping air investigators following the shocking crash on January 21 killing new £15 million Cardiff City striker Sala and married father Mr Ibbotson, 59, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire,

Sala’s body was recovered from the wreckage of the plane more than 22 miles off Guernsey in early February – blood tests carried out in Britain revealed he was poisoned and the missing pilot would have been too

He told MailOnline he was ‘a little surprised’ by the bombshell report stating that the footballer had CO saturation levels of 58 per cent in his blood stream and the pilot was overcome by lethal fumes too, saying: ‘I was not expecting that. That is new information.’

He said that even the ‘tiniest hole’ in a plane’s exhaust can cause a carbon monoxide leak, adding: ‘One of the first things to go is the muffler, which goes over the exhaust system to warm the air coming into the craft. Even the tiniest hole can cause carbon monoxide to pour through the exhaust and go into the cabin.

‘Unfortunately, it will poison the pilot and any passenger.They will feel nauseous and drift off to sleep. It affects people in different ways but there is no odour and it is deadly dangerous.’

Fears Piper Malibu’s heating system may have pumped deadly gas into Sala’s cabin 

The Piper Malibu aircraft, N264DB, on the ground at Nantes Airport in France, before the flight

Piston engine planes such as the Piper Malibu carrying Emiliano Sala produce high concentrations of Carbon Monoxide (CO) that are conveyed away from the aircraft though the exhaust system. 

But the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said today that poor sealing of the cabin, or leaks into the heating and ventilation system from the exhaust can provide pathways for CO to enter the cabin.

Whilst piston engines produce the highest concentration of CO, exhausts from turbine engines also contain CO. 

Several alarms are available for aircraft including stick-on pads that change colour in the presence of CO to battery-powered detectors that sound loudly when the gas is detected. 

These devices are not mandatory in aircraft under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) or US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.

Guidance says that if CO is detected or someone on board falls ill the pilot must land as soon as possible.

But with Sala’s plane already over the Channel, in dark and freezing conditions, the aircraft went into the sell. 

AAIB experts fear fumes from the Piper Malibu’s engine may have leaked into the cabin as it flew from Nantes, France, to Cardiff and poisoned the two men on board.

Experts from the UK AAIB fear fumes from the Piper PA-46 Malibu’s engine may have leaked into the cabin as it flew from Nantes to Cardiff and poisoned the two men on board.

It is not known if the plane had a carbon monoxide alarm on board – but aviation experts say is not mandatory to have one in the cockpit or cabin in Europe or the US.

Mr Penney is urging for the remains of the small plane, which ploughed into the sea 22 miles off Guernsey, to be brought to the surface for examination.

He said: ‘If there was a fault in the muffler, a hole which caused carbon monoxide leakage, it will help answer many questions. It is made of high temperature steel, and has probably not corroded.’

An interim report published by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch this afternoon revealed that Sala had CO saturation levels of 58 per cent in blood taken from his dead body.

Doctors have told crash investigators that levels in excess of 50 per cent in the bloodstream typically causes seizures, then unconsciousness, followed by cardiac arrest and death.

Today’s bombshell report raises the prospect that the footballer and his pilot may have blacked out or even perished before the small plane ploughed into the sea 22 miles off Guernsey on January 21 this year. 

Cardiff City’s £15million record signing from FC Nantes was found dead in the wreckage of the doomed aircraft, which remains 220ft down on the seabed near the Channel’s most perilous underwater valley, known as Hurd’s Deep.

Today Sala’s relatives in Argentina called for search ships to return to pull up the fuselage for testing so they can get the truth about how he and his pilot died.  

They may even launch another crowdfunding effort to pay the US private shipwreck hunter who found the plane in February to attempt to raise it from the Channel for them. 

The UK AAIB has this evening ruled out returning to pull up the craft.

A spokesman said ‘In February our underwater search operation successfully located the wreckage, recovered the passenger’s body and captured substantial video evidence from the scene using a remotely operated vehicle. 

‘It was not possible at the time to recover the wreckage. We have carefully considered the feasibility and merits of returning to attempt to recover the wreckage. In this case, we consider that it will not add significantly to the investigation and we will identify the correct safety issues through other means’. 

Dorset Police has confirmed that David Ibbotson’s friend David Henderson – the pilot who was reportedly due to fly the Piper Malibu but pulled out at the 11th hour – remains on bail after being arrested on suspicion Mr Sala and Mr Ibbotson’s manslaughter in June.

As the AAIB released a shock safety report on the Sala crash, it emerged today: 

• Emiliano Sala had a carbon monoxide saturation level of 58% in his blood – 50% can cause seizures, unconsciousness, heart attacks and death; 
• An inquest earlier this year said he died from severe injuries to his head and upper body – but it is possible that the carbon monoxide killed him first; 
• Sala’s pilot Dave Ibbotson will also have encountered toxic levels of the gas – but his body has never been found to test;
• Experts fear poor sealing of the cabin, or leaks into the heating and ventilation system from the Piper Malibu’s engines or exhaust could have pumped CO into the cockpit and cabin;
• The footballer’s family want the plane’s wreckage salvaged from the bottom of the Channel for further tests – but the AAIB has refused;
• Cardiff City says today’s report shows that the plane chosen by Sala’s representatives was ‘unsuitable’
• The AAIB’s final report will be released by the end of 2019 – the pilot who had been due to fly Sala still on bail after his arrest for manslaughter in June; 

Experts fear fumes from the Piper PA-46 Malibu’s exhaust may have leaked into the cabin as it flew from Nantes to Cardiff. 

The aircraft’s heating system may also have pumped in deadly carbon monoxide because  of the freezing conditions over the Channel that night. 

Part-time pilot and boiler engineer Mr Ibbotson, 59, was in charge of the plane without the proper licence and was not allowed to fly at night – but today’s twist could mean it was a defect with the plane – not his flying – that killed them. 

The report said: ‘It is clear that exposure to CO can reduce or inhibit a pilot’s ability to fly an aircraft depending on the level of that exposure’.

It is not known if the plane had a carbon monoxide alarm on board – but MailOnline understands it is not mandatory to have one in the cockpit or cabin in Europe or the US.   

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Today’s bombshell AAIB report says the pilot will have been inhibited or even unconscious because of the levels of carbon monoxide on board

A van by the Geo Ocean III specialist search vessel docked in Portland, Dorset, which brought back the body recovered from the wreckage of the plane carrying Sala, on February 7

The £15million record signing of Sala by Cardiff City from FC Nantes raised questions about how footballers were treated as they were transferred between clubs.

Doomed plane’s owners have finally been found – but their names will be kept secret because the jet is US-registered

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has established the identity of the owner of the doomed Sala jet but will not name them.]

A spokesman said: ‘Our Regulations don’t permit us to disclose the name of an aircraft owner’.

Investigators will be checking whether the Piper Malibu was properly maintained and safe before its final flight.

Details of owners of the aircraft have been shrouded in mystery, 

Earlier this year it emerged that these have been removed or withheld from the US’ Federal Aviation Administration in what appears to a concerted attempt to keep their identity a secret.

Establishing the identity of the owners was the first priority of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, (AIIB) which is examining the crash.

The Piper Malibu has been registered in the US in the name of a Suffolk-based trustee firm, Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc, in a way which prevents the actual owner being known. 

The 39-year-old aircraft’s listing with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) states that there were no previous owners.

But one company linked to the has past and present directors based at three UK addresses.

But two of those were empty, with all furniture removed. Staff at another address – a mansion in Nottinghamshire – ordered reporters to leave the grounds.

The ownership issue may prove vital to the question of who proves financially liable for the losses incurred by Cardiff City – who are legally bound to pay Nantes for the player who died before he had a chance to kick a ball for them.

One person who is known to have a connection to the aircraft is David Henderson – the pilot who was reportedly due to fly it but pulled out at the 11th hour

Mr Henderson from York, was was filmed by the BBC with the plane at Retford Gamston Airport in 2015 for a feature transporting small planes across continents to new owners.

After travelling to south Wales to complete the deal, Sala returned to northern France to collect belongings, bid farewell to his teammates and check on his Labrador, Nala – but died flying back to Britain to take part in his first training session.

A spokesman for Cardiff City said today: ‘The AAIB’s latest report which once again highlights that the aircraft used for Emiliano Sala was not appropriate.

‘We continue to believe that those who were instrumental in arranging its usage are held to account for this tragedy.’  

The opening of Sala’s inquest in Dorset earlier this year heard he died of severe injuries to his head and upper body – but carbon monoxide poisoning could be the true cause of his death. 

Daniel Machover, of Hickman and Rose solicitors, lawyers for the Sala  family, said: ‘That dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide have been found in Emiliano’s body raises many questions for the family.

‘How he died will be determined at the inquest in due course.

‘The family believe that a detailed technical examination of the plane is necessary.

‘The family and the public need to know how the carbon monoxide was able to enter the cabin. Future air safety rests on knowing as much as possible on this issue.

‘Emiliano’s family call on the AAIB to salvage the wreckage of the plane without further delay.’  

Sala was killed on January 21 when a plane carrying him crashed two days after he had signed a £15million transfer to Cardiff City from French club Nantes.

It was around ten days later that professional wreck-hunters employed by his family located the missing plane after coastguard in the Channel Islands gave up because of storms. 

The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch said today that both Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, 59, whose body has not yet been found, had been exposed to harmful levels of the gas.

Tests on the striker’s body found enough evidence of the gas to cause a heart attack, seizure or unconsciousness.

It is likely that Mr Ibbotson was also ‘affected to some extent’ by exposure to carbon monoxide, a report added. 

The AAIB said the gas can ‘reduce or inhibit a pilot’s ability to fly an aircraft depending on the level of that exposure’. 

After a major search for the plane in January, Sala’s body was found and taken to Dorset on February 7. An inquest soon after heard he died of severe injuries to the head and upper body. 

The AAIB said it was working with the aircraft and engine manufacturers and the National Transportation Safety Board in the US ‘to identify possible pathways through which CO might enter the cabin of this type of aircraft.

‘Work is also continuing to investigate pertinent operational, technical, organisational and human factors which might have contributed to the accident.’ 

David Ibbotson was flying the Piper Malibu light aircraft carrying the 28-year-old Cardiff City signing but it has now been claimed he was not allowed to fly at night

An interim report by the Farnborough-based AAIB revealed Mr Ibbotson did not have a licence for commercial flights. 

An official report previously stated that the plane involved in the crash fell thousands of feet in just 24 seconds before crashing into the sea and splitting into three parts. 

The aircraft took off at 7.15pm GMT on January 21 and flew on its planned route at an altitude of 5,500 feet until it was just south of Guernsey at 8.02pm. 

David Henderson (pictured with the doomed plane) has been arrested on suspicion of the manslaughter of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson

A British pilot is still on bail over the deaths of Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala and the friend he drafted in at the 11th hour to fly the plane that plunged into the English Channel.

Dorset Police held David Henderson, 64, from York, in June on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act following the doomed flight from Nantes to Cardiff on January 21 this year.

The plane containing Mr Sala’s body was found on February 4 – 220ft down on the seabed off Alderney – but the pilot David Ibbotson has never been located.

Mr Henderson had been asked by British football ‘super agent’ Willie McKay to take Sala, 28, to Wales after he completed his £15million transfer to the Premier League.

But he then allegedly drafted in Mr Ibbotson, a boiler engineer and part-time pilot from Lincolnshire who was not qualified to carry paying passengers and should not have been flying at night or in bad weather. 

Mr Henderson had been feared dead after the flight plan for the doomed plane lodged with the French authorities named him as the pilot. 

The father-of-two was then forced to post a Facebook message the next day stating that rumours of his death were untrue and his friend had taken the controls instead. 

At that point, Mr Ibbotson descended to fly at 5,000 feet to maintain visibility. 

The last radio communication received from the aircraft was at 8.12pm, when the pilot asked for and was granted permission to reduce altitude again. 

But at 8.16pm, while performing a right turn, the aircraft descended rapidly and crashed into the sea.

The wreckage was found on the seabed, 30 metres from where final radar readings located it.

The mangled wreck, which was found in three parts, was held together by electrical and flying control cables.

In the days after the accident, two seat cushions, an armrest and possible parts from the fuselage washed up along the coast of France’s Cotentin Peninsula. 

A seat cushion also washed up in Bonne Nuit Bay on the north coast of Jersey.

In June Dorset Police held David Henderson, 64, from York, on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act following the doomed flight

Mr Henderson had been asked by British football ‘super agent’ Willie McKay to take Sala, 28, to Wales after he completed his £15million transfer to the Premier League.

But he then allegedly drafted in Mr Ibbotson, a boiler engineer and part-time pilot from Lincolnshire who was not qualified to carry paying passengers and should not have been flying at night or in bad weather.

Mr Henderson had been feared dead after the flight plan for the doomed plane lodged with the French authorities named him as the pilot.

The father-of-two was then forced to post a Facebook message the next day stating that rumours of his death were untrue and his friend had taken the controls instead.

Mr Ibbotson, a boiler engineer and part-time pilot, told a friend he was ‘a bit rusty’ with the instruments of the 35-year-old aircraft.

Aviation authorities later confirmed that Mr Ibbotson – thought to be colour-blind – did not have a ‘night rating’ on his UK private pilot permit. 

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.

Fans look at the flowers placed outside Cardiff City Stadium in tribute to Sala – who never played for his new club – on February 2

In a further twist David Henderson’s passport was scanned by security at Nantes Airport on the day of Emiliano Sala doomed flight to Cardiff, according to reports in the French media at the time.

However at the time he categorically denied any involvement with Sala’s flight which ended in tragedy in the sea close to Guernsey.

He said: ‘I have not been to Nantes for one year.’

Sherry Bray and Christopher Ashford, at Swindon Crown Court on August 9, have admitted they accessed footage of Mr Sala’s post-mortem examination. They face jail

Asked why his passport was scanned by security at Nantes Airport on Monday January 21 – the same time as Emiliano Sala and replacement pilot David Ibbotson passed through security – Henderson told the newspaper: ‘I cannot explain their [French airport security’s] mistake’.

Sala had been Cardiff’s record signing after a fee of £15million was agreed with Nantes during the January transfer window.

Initial search operations for the player and pilot were suspended in the days after the plane went missing with the authorities saying it was too difficult because of strong currents and the very deep sea around the Channel Islands.

However, a crowdfunding effort supported by thousands of donations, including from football stars such as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, helped launch a private search.

That specialised search saw Sala’s body recovered from the wreckage in February but Ibbotson’s body has not been found.

The Briton’s grieving family has vowed never to give up looking for him.

Sala’s bereft family travelled to Britain from Argentina and stayed until he was discovered.

Three months after his death Sala’s father Horacio passed away from a heart attack in his bed at home in Progreso, Argentina.

It came just a few days after Sebastian Rabellino, a fellow footballer and long-time friend of Emiliano, was killed in a car crash.

Last week, two CCTV workers were warned at Swindon Crown Court that they face jail after accessing footage of the post-mortem examination of Sala.

Sherry Bray, 48, and Christopher Ashford, 62, admitted to repeatedly watching mortuary film of the star’s body and Bray took photos from it using her mobile.  

Bray was the director of a CCTV firm in Chippenham, which had an out-of-hours contract to monitor the cameras at the mortuary, and Ashford was an employee. 

The pair were bailed until September 20 and Judge Peter Crabtree warned them they face prison.

Timeline: How the Sala tragedy unfolded over the English Channel

January 21, 2019:

The single-turbine engine Piper PA-46 Malibu leaves Nantes at 7.15pm for Cardiff and is flying at an altitude of 5,000ft. At 8.50pm the plane disappears from radar in the English Channel.

January 22:

The French civil aviation authority confirms Argentinian footballer Emiliano Sala, 28, who had just signed for Cardiff City, was on board the light aircraft. Piloting the plane was David Ibbotson, from Crowle, near Scunthorpe.

January 24:

Guernsey’s harbour master Captain David Barker says the chances Sala and Mr Ibbotson have survived is ‘extremely remote’.  

January 26:

It emerges that football agent Willie McKay arranged for the flight to take Sala to Cardiff but he says he had no involvement in selecting the plane or pilot. He also backs calls for the search to continue.

January 27:

Relatives and friends of Sala arrive in Guernsey, having enlisted the help of shipwreck hunting expert David Mearns. 

January 28:

Sala’s family, including his mother Mercedes and sister Romina, take a chartered flight in a plane operated by Guernsey airline Aurigny over the area where the plane disappeared.

January 30:

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) says two seat cushions found washed up earlier in the week near Surtainville on the Cotentin Peninsula are likely to have come from the plane carrying Sala and his pilot.

February 3:

Wreckage of the plane is located in a fresh, privately funded search which was made possible after a fundraising campaign saw more than £260,000 donated.

Feburary 4:

A body is visible in seabed video footage of the wreckage of the plane. The AAIB says the footage was filmed using an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) which was surveying the area after the plane was located.

February 6:

A body seen in the wreckage of the plane is recovered. The AAIB says the body will be taken to Portland to be passed over to the Dorset coroner for examination.

The aircraft remains 67 metres underwater 21 miles off the coast of Guernsey. The AAIB says attempts to recover the aircraft wreckage were unsuccessful and, due to continued poor weather forecast, ‘the difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close’.

February 7:

The Geo Ocean III search boat returns to dock in Portland, Dorset, carrying the wreckage of the Piper Malibu aircraft. Investigators wait to confirm if the body inside the wreckage is that of the pilot or the Argentinian footballer – and identified him using his fingerprints.

June 5: 

Two people charged over a photograph taken in a mortuary of footballer Emiliano Sala that was posted on social media. 

June 19: 

David Henderson, 64, from York, arrested on suspicion of manslaughter by an unlawful act. He was later released under investigation.

August 14:

An interim report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch reveals tests on Sala’s body have found enough evidence of carbon monoxide to cause a heart attack, seizure or unconsciousness