The inquest into the death of footballer Emiliano Sala has now concluded, more than three years after the plane crash which saw the Argentine lose his life.
He was on board an unlicensed commercial plane which crashed into the English Channel near the island of Guernsey January 2019, in bad weather.
A pathologist told the court that Sala had been overcome by severe carbon monoxide poisoning and would have been deeply unconscious before the single engine plane made its fatal descent.
However, according to Dr Basil Purdue, he was still alive at the point of impact, and died as a result of the severe head and chest injuries he subsequently suffered.
Sala’s body was recovered from the wreckage of the plane from the sea bed after an extensive search that lasted weeks. The body of the pilot, Dave Ibbotson has never been found.
Sala was on his way to Cardiff from Nantes, having just signed for the Welsh side from the Ligue 1 club, when the flight disappeared from radar.
Last November, David Henderson was jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of organising the fatal flight, after he was convicted of endangering an aircraft.
An experienced pilot, Henderson was originally due to fly the plane carrying Sala. However, a prior engagement prompted him to draft in Ibbotson to take his place, even though he was not qualified to take commercial passengers and had little experience flying that type of aircraft.
The coroner has also written to the relevant authorities her concerns about the safety issues arising from this particular incident in order to prevent a future recurrence, something welcomed by Sala’s family.
The jury reached their conclusions following two days of deliberations, after the four week hearing.
The verdict was welcomed by Cardiff City, as it effectively absolved them of any part in the death of Sala, who never got a chance to pull on their blue shirt.
Nevertheless, it still beggars belief that a multi-million pound star would be expected to make his way to Wales in a small private single engine plane when there were commercial flights available between Paris and Cardiff.