The pilot who organised the flight that killed footballer Emiliano Sala sent a message to an engineer warning him to stay silent following the crash, a court today heard.
David Henderson, 67, pleaded guilty to one charge over the death of striker Sala, 28, who was killed on the stormy trip to Britain from his French club to join Cardiff City.
Henderson is denying another charge after recruiting fellow pilot David Ibbotson, 59, as a last-minute stand-in to fly the single-engine Piper Malibu from France to Cardiff airport.
After learning of the crash on the evening of January 21, Henderson sent a message to David Smith, an aircraft engineer with Eastern Air Executive, which carried out maintenance on the plane, Cardiff Crown Court today heard.
'Malibu gone missing on way back from France. Don't say a word to anyone.'
The following day, Henderson messaged Hedley Aylott, who had raised concerns about Mr Ibbotson's flying in 2018, and said: 'Ibbo has crashed the Malibu and killed himself and VIP pax! Bloody disaster. There will be an enquiry.'
David Henderson (pictured arriving in court Tuesday), 67, pleaded guilty to one charge over the death of striker Emiliano Sala, 28, who was killed on the stormy trip to Britain from his French club to join Cardiff City
Henderson messaged a friend: 'Hi Humphrey, it was N264DB that went in last night. Ibbo PIC. I would appreciate it if everyone could avoid talking to the press/CAA etc until we get a clearer picture of the situation. Just "No comment".'
The court heard the plane was purchased in August 2015 by the Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc, a company that specialises in organising the ownership of aircraft into trusts.
The trust was Cool Flourish Ltd, a family company of which Fay Keely was the director and secretary.
Henderson messaged Ms Keely: 'Hi Fay, I'm afraid I have bad news, David Ibbotson crashed the plane last night. He plus passenger killed.
'The passenger was a high profile footballer so I'm afraid there is going to be a big investigation. We need legal advice before we answer any questions. Please get back to me ASAP. Regards Dave.'
Henderson admitted that he was the operator when his plane took payment for Sala to fly 'without permission or authorisation' from outside Britain.
The formal charge read: 'On the 21/1/19 as the operator of aircraft registration N264DB attempted to cause N264DB an aircraft register elsewhere that the UK to discharge a passenger Emiliano Sala at Cardiff in the UK for valuable consideration without permission or authorisation.'
Striker Sala was on his way to the UK to play for Cardiff City in a £15m move from French side Nantes when the tragedy happened.
Argentina-born Sala and pilot Mr Ibbotson died when the plane careered into the water north of Guernsey on January 21, 2019.
Henderson is denying another charge after recruiting fellow pilot David Ibbotson (pictured), 59, as a last-minute stand-in to fly the single-engine Piper Malibu from France to Cardiff airport
The body of the Argentina striker was recovered from the seabed the following month, but neither the body of Mr Ibbotson, from Crowle, Lincolnshire, nor the plane's wreckage, were found.
Henderson was due to pilot the single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft but instead went on holiday with his wife to Paris from the evening of January 18 to 20.
Martin Goudie QC told the court Henderson ignored the regulations because it was in his 'business interests' to do so.
Mr Goudie said: 'As a result, he organised for David Ibbotson, an individual he had a significant history with and knowledge of, to pilot the flights.
'Mr Ibbotson did not have a commercial pilot's licence, his rating for the type of aircraft N264DB was had expired in November 2018 and he was not competent to fly in the weather that Mr Henderson was aware the flights might encounter.'
He said the prosecution case was that 'Mr Henderson acted either negligently or recklessly in a manner that was likely to endanger N264DB and those on it'.
'We do not seek to suggest that Mr Henderson did not know what he was doing or care about safety, you will see a lot of maintenance took place on the aircraft, but that he ignored certain requirements when it suited him and his business interests.'
The court heard Ms Keely knew Henderson used Mr Ibbotson as a pilot because in the summer of 2018 she received two letters from the Civil Aviation Authority about airspace infringements when Mr Ibbotson was the pilot of the aircraft.
Mr Goudie told the jury the defendant 'was aware that there were issues with Mr Ibbotson's flying from the start', even before the letters from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Striker Sala (pictured) was on his way to the UK to play for Cardiff City in a £15m move from French side Nantes when the tragedy happened
Following the letters from the CAA, Mr Ibbotson wrote to Henderson suggesting he thought he would not be using him again.
Henderson wrote back and said: 'I am just responding to emails from Fay who has forwarded me two letters from CAA.
'I have always said the flying we do is challenging and everyone has to be on the ball. It is a steep learning curve for someone new to the operation.
'The prerequisite is a willingness to listen and learn. We both have an opportunity to make money out of the business model but not if we upset clients or draw the attention of the CAA... As self-employed sole traders we both have debtors and creditors and surely you understand that to remain legal we can't take money in advance.'
The court heard the CAA has not found any records to suggest Mr Ibbotson had obtained a night rating by the time of the fatal flight.
Mr Ibbotson and Henderson exchanged messages in the run up to Christmas about Mr Ibbotson getting his night rating, with the defendant saying
