Gary Lineker and French striker Kylian Mbappe have donated to a crowdfunder set up to find the body of missing pilot David Ibbotson. The family of the 60-year-old pilot launched the appeal to search for his remains following the recovery of footballer Emiliano Sala’s body on Thursday. Their plane had gone missing on January 21 after it crashed off the Channel Islands as they flew from Nantes to Sala’s new club Cardiff City.
The fundraiser created by Danielle Ibbotson to raise £300,000 has so far raised more than £100,000. Lineker donated £1,000, while PSG striker Mbappe gave £26,267 under his pseudonym Ellie Lottin, according to The Sun.
The appeal by the family says: ‘Please help bring David Ibbotson home and help give him the send off he deserves. ‘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.’
Sala’s family raised £300,000 through a similar crowdfunding site which they used to hire a private company and Air Accidents Investigation Branch using the money. AAIB discovered one body in the wreckage and used special remotely operated vehicles recover Sala’s body from the wreck. No official search will be made for Mr Ibbotson’s body and the AAIB have said they do not plan to raise the wreckage of the aircraft.