Sat Jan 26, 2019 11:35 am
Translated from French daily newspaper Ouest France 26/01/2019
We tried to trace the course of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson, between their arrival at Nantes airport and the take-off of their plane.
What happened between the arrival of Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson at the Nantes airport on Monday, January 21st, and the take-off of their plane in the early evening? What is the boarding procedure for a private flight? Here is their journey traced before the fateful moment.
Flight plan
A few hours before take-off, it is submitted by the pilot, via the Internet or by telephone, to the Regional Bureaux of Information and Flight Assistance (BRIA). This document contains the destination, the departure time, the quantity of fuel, the identity of the pilot, the number of passengers (but not their identity) ... purely declarative indications, indicates a pilot from Nantes. The passengers or their number, and even the pilot, can change until the last moment, without any verification being carried out.
Handling (accompaniment)
When the football player arrived with his pilot at the airport, he showed up at the Aviapartner counter on the ground floor. This is where he was taken care of. "It's handling: Aviapartner accompanies the traveler to the climb in the plane" , details our source. At this stage, no identity verification, at least thorough, is performed.
Post Inspection Filter (PIF)
There are several in the airport. A screening inspection post is located on the first floor for commercial flights. Another is near the Aviapartner counter. It is the company Hub Safe, specialized in the airport security (several hundreds of agents, authorized by the prefect of police, work with the airport), which is in charge of these controls (gantries, X-rays). The identity card, the driver's license ... are checked. "But these checks are not cross-checked with the information given in the flight plan , " warns an expert. Note that once the reserved area is crossed, it is possible to come out, to smoke a cigarette outside for example. Only condition to return: return all controls.
Tarmac
Emiliano Sala and David Ibbotson were then accompanied by Aviapartner to the plane. This part of the trip can be done by car, shuttle, or on foot, depending on where the plane is parked. The two men joined one of the two parking spaces reserved for "single-engined aircraft" , ie the I or M car park at the airport. The plane then took off, mysteriously disappearing shortly after 20:15, off the island of Guernsey.