Speaking at a briefing at Guernsey’s Harbour on Saturday, marine scientist David Mearns, who is directing the operation on behalf of the Sala family, said that the survey vessel Morven would work alongside a second boat commissioned by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
‘We will continue to work until the plane is located,’ he said.
— David Mearns (@davidlmearns) February 2, 2019
Mr Mearns said both vessels would divide the search area in half, looking for ‘wreckage’ and a ‘debris field’ in a depth of 60-120m (196-390ft).
The Piper Malibu N264DB carrying 28-year-old Mr Sala and pilot David Ibbotson (59) disappeared as it passed Alderney on the evening of 21 January after leaving Nantes in France for Cardiff.
Blue Water Recoveries director Mr Mearns, who claims to have located 24 major shipwrecks during his career, said he would be leading a team of seven other people on the Morven and it would be operating around the clock.
He said the the search is being carried out ‘in close co-ordination’ with the AAIB. The two vessels will search an area of around four square nautical miles between Alderney and Guernsey.
Mr Mearns said the AAIB has a ‘high confidence level’ that the plane could be in that zone but it could have moved on the seabed.
An official search operation was called off on 24 January as Guernsey’s harbourmaster Captain David Barker said the chances of survival after such a long period were ‘extremely remote’.
Two seat cushions, which are likely to have come from the plane, were found on a beach in Normandy last Monday.
