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The flight taking Emiliano Sala from Nantes to Cardiff has been recreated by a flight simulation.

Sala's body was found on board a private jet that disappeared into the English Channel last month.

Pilot David Ibbotson remains missing but his family are in talks for a new search to begin to find his body.

Grismby Live have commissioned a professional flight simulation to show the challenge Mr Ibbotson, a private pilot, faced as he tried to take Sala back to south Wales.

It has taken two weeks for a dedicated simulator pilot to refine the flight, which is based on the accurate weather conditions, the route, altitude, speed and aircraft used.

(Image: Grimsby Live)

The simulation is not intended to shed light on why the plane disappeared but it does provide an insight into the conditions that Mr Ibbotson encountered, with investigators prepare to release their initial findings in the coming days.

A flight plan filed by Mr Ibbotson showed he intended to fly almost directly north from Nantes across the Channel Islands and on to Cardiff . He had Jersey as his 'alternate airport' in case of an emergency or bad weather.

The conditions in Nantes were cold and clear but a front of winter weather was moving east from the Atlantic and conditions in Cardiff and across the south west of England were deteriorating.

The simulation

The simulation picks up where Mr Ibbotson taxied the Piper to the main runway at Nantes Atlantique airport.

The temperature was just above freezing but the skies clear and after take-off the aircraft turns back north to cross the lights of Nantes before slowly climbing across the north west of France and towards the English Channel.

Nantes falls behind and the aircraft passes by the city of Rennes and on towards the port of St Malo, heavily populated areas easily visible from the Piper.

(Image: emilianosala9/Instagram)

But then, as the Channel approaches, the light and life on the ground start to fade away into the darkness of a January night. Here, in the simulation, the aircraft encounters squalls; rain and sleet showers modelled by the simulator on official weather data in the area from the day.

With just 40-miles to the Channel Islands, Mr Ibbotson remains at 5,000ft, flying into conditions which can lead to icing, a condition which pilots learn to fear and try to avoid. Unable to fly around clouds, rain and moisture can freeze on the super-cooled wings and tail of the aircraft, presenting a growing danger with each passing mile.

(Image: Grimsby Live)

After just 40-miles, the aircraft passes Jersey and then a little further the lights of a runway, Guernsey Airport, appear to the left of the aircraft. There is no evidence Mr Ibbotson chose to try to land there.

What is known is that around the same time, 8.25pm, Mr Ibbotson contacted air traffic controllers based at Jersey and requested to descend. There has been no explanation why and no suggestion the call included a mayday or a ‘pan pan’ which is designed to alert controllers to an urgent problem.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

When the plane disappeared

Pilots and aviation experts suggest the request to descend is the clue that icing had become a potential issue on board.

Pilots are trained that to escape icing they should fly lower, to warmer air. Typically for every 1,000ft an aircraft climbs, the temperature drops 2C. Descending reverses the process. By flying lower, Mr Ibbotson may have been trying to shed or melt ice building up on the aircraft.

But suddenly, at 2,300ft all contact with the Piper is lost near the island Alderney. It vanishes from radar with no mayday or emergency call to warn the controllers.

Towards the end of our simulation as the aircraft descends, it is buffeted by turbulence, pockets or air and strong gusts of wind which rock the aircraft violently from side to side while pitching its nose up and down.

(Image: AAIB / SWNS)

The condition, although almost impossible to predict, is generated by the computer programme based on the official weather conditions at the time.

Whatever then happens in the flight’s final moments appears to have been catastrophically quick and with tragic consequences for the aircraft and two men on board. A rapid, uncontrolled, descent into the sea may have lasted as little as 10 or 15 seconds.