No sign of Argentine soccer player’s plane after disappearance

Supporters of FC Nantes gather to pay tribute to Argentinian soccer player Emiliano Sala, in Nantes, western France, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2018. The search for the missing plane taking Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala to his new team in Wales was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors in the English Channel. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

In this his picture taken on Jan. 14, 2018, Argentine soccer player, Emiliano Sala, of the FC Nantes club, western France, gives a thumbs up during a soccer match against PSG in Nantes, France. The French civil aviation authority says Emiliano Sala was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Residents of Nantes, western France, and FC Nantes soccer fans are gathered in the city center to pay tribute to FC Nantes soccer player Emiliano Sala of Argentina, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The French civil aviation authority said Tuesday, Emiliano Sala was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

This 2005 photo courtesy of Diario El Littoral de Santa Fe shows Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala at his Club Atletico Social San Martin in Progreso, Santa Fe, Argentina. A small passenger plane disappeared over the English Channel on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019 with the Argentine soccer player on board. The search was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors. (Diario El Littoral de Santa Fe via AP)

CORRECTS NAME OF PARTNER - Horacio Sala, father of Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, holds hands with his partner Liliana Ponce outside their home in Progreso, Argentina, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The French civil aviation authority says the 28-year-old Argentine striker was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey on Monday. "I don't know what to think. ... The hours pass and I am just beginning to think the worst," Sala told media gathered outside the family home. (AP Photo/Mauricio Garin)

Five year old Grace Elliott and father Chris lay a Southampton FC scarf on the statue of former Cardiff City soccer player Frederick Charles Keenor outside Cardiff City Football Club in Cardiff, Wales, Tuesday Jan. 22, 2019 after a plane with new signing Emiliano Sala on board went missing over the English Channel. The French civil aviation authority said Tuesday Jan. 22, 2019, Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey. French and British maritime authorities are searching the English Channel for the plane. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

A FC Nantes soccer fan displays the cover of French soccer magazine, France Football, featuring FC Nantes soccer player Emiliano Sala of Argentina, during a tribute in Nantes, western France, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The French civil aviation authority said Tuesday, Emiliano Sala was aboard a small passenger plane that went missing off the coast of the island of Guernsey. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Club Atletico Social San Martin President Daniel Rivero holds a Nantes team jersey that was given to the club by Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, in Progreso, Santa Fe, Argentina Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. A small passenger plane disappeared over the English Channel with the 28-year-old Argentine striker Sala on board. The search was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors. (AP Photo/Mauricio Garin)

Supporters gather to pay tribute to Argentinian soccer player Emiliano Sala, in Nantes, western France, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2018. The search for the missing plane taking Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala to his new team in Wales was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors in the English Channel. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Supporters gather to pay tribute to Argentinian soccer player Emiliano Sala, in Nantes, western France, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. The search for the missing plane taking Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala to his new team in Wales was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors in the English Channel. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

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By Rob Harris The Associated Press

January 23, 2019 - 11:16 am

LONDON — Search teams have yet to find any trace of the plane carrying Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala after a second day searching the English Channel from the air and sea, authorities said Wednesday.

Three planes, a helicopter and a lifeboat were part of a nine-hour search on Wednesday that was called off after 5 p.m. The search teams had prioritized looking into whether Sala and pilot David Ibbotson could have landed safely and been unable to make contact, but the pair remains missing since Monday night when the Piper PA-46 plane disappeared from radars near the island of Guernsey.

It was flying from the French city of Nantes to Cardiff, where Sala was due to start playing for the Welsh capital’s Premier League club.

“We have found no trace of the missing plane,” Guernsey harbor master Capt. David Barker said. “A decision about whether to recommence will be taken early tomorrow morning.”

Among the possibilities Barker offered were that they landed safely on the ground somewhere, were picked up by a passing ship after landing on water, were in a life raft from the plane or were floating at sea because the plane “broke up on contact with the water.”

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman said Sala made his own arrangements for the journey with the club not involved in booking the plane.

Cardiff announced Saturday that it had signed Sala from French top division team Nantes for a club record fee reported to be 15 million pounds ($19 million).