Footballer donates £27,000 to missing pilot’s search fund

A French footballer has donated £27,000 to help find missing pilot David Ibbotson.
David IbbotsonDavid Ibbotson
David Ibbotson

Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe donated the money to the family’s fundraising page, aiming to restart the search for the pilot’s body.

Mr Ibbotson, from Crowle, was flying footballer Emiliano Sala to the UK to join Cardiff City when their plane crashed near Guernsey on January 21.

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The body of the footballer has been found, but Mr Ibbotson remains missing.

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Former England captain Gary Lineker has also donated £1,000 to the cause.

As of Sunday afternoon the page had raised £124,819 of its £300,000 goal to restart the search.

A message on the page said: “Please help bring David Ibbotson home and help give him the send off he deserves.

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“As a family we are relying on the kindness of the good-hearted people to help us raise the much-needed funds to help us find our beloved dad, husband and son.

“As a family we are trying to come to terms with the tragedy and the loss of two incredible men.

“To be told the search has now been called off for the foreseeable future has only made this tragic time more difficult.

“We cannot bare the thought of him being alone – we need him home so that we are able to lay him to rest.” In a statement, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said on Wednesday that poor weather conditions led to a ‘difficult decision was taken to bring the overall operation to a close’.

For more information on the appeal or to donate visit www.gofundme.com/f/david-ibbotson-please-help-bring-him-home