Argentinian soccer star Emiliano Sala is presumed dead after a small plane he and another person were aboard went missing over the English Channel, according to reports and the French civil aviation authority.

The single-engine aircraft, a Piper PA-46 Malibu, had departed at 7:15 p.m. Monday from the French city of Nantes and was headed for Cardiff, the capital of Wales, when it suddenly disappeared off the coast of Guernsey, an island in the English Channel, officials said.

By 8:23 p.m., the island’s coast guard received an alert that the aircraft had gone off their radar about 15 miles north of Guernsey, prompting a major search and rescue operation that continued into Tuesday, officials said.

“The aircraft on passing Guernsey requested descent,” police said in a statement, noting that the plane was flying at an altitude of 2,300 feet when it lost contact.

The search was temporarily stopped at 2 a.m. due to high winds and worsening sea conditions, which reduced visibility, and it resumed Tuesday morning, officials said.

In an update Tuesday, Guernsey police said, “So far over 1,000 square miles have been searched by a total of five aircraft and two lifeboats … There has been no trace of the aircraft. The search is continuing.”

Sala’s father, Horacio, told Argentine television station C5N he was “distraught” by the news.

“I don’t know anything, I haven’t had any information. I can’t believe it, it’s incredible,” Horacio said. “I’m distraught. Hopefully everything will be OK.”

Sala, 28, was flying to Wales to join English Premier League club Cardiff City, officials said.

Cardiff City signed the young striker last Saturday for a reported $19 million in a deal that lasts through 2022 — a club record.

“We are very concerned by the latest news that a light aircraft lost contact over the Channel last night. We are awaiting confirmation before we can say anything further. We are very concerned for the safety of Emiliano Sala,” Mehmet Dalman, chairman of Cardiff City, said in a statement, according to The Guardian.

Sala, who played with the French soccer club FC Nantes, had returned to France after signing with Cardiff City and was due in Cardiff for training on Tuesday.

On Monday, he posted a photo of himself and his former teammates on Instagram, writing: “The final goodbye @FCNantes.”

Over the weekend, the Cardiff City football club posted a video of Sala on its Facebook page.

“I can’t wait to start training, meeting my new teammates and to get down to work,” Sala said in the video.

Sala joined FC Nantes in 2015 and has scored 42 goals for the club.

Meanwhile, Nantes has postponed its Wednesday French Cup match with L’Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien amid the search for Sala.

With Post wires