The doomed plane carrying footballer Emiliano Sala plunged thousands of feet in just 20 seconds while making a sharp 180-degree turn before crashing into the sea, air accident investigators have found.

Flight data shows the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane, piloted by David Ibbotson, followed its planned route on the night of January 21, taking off at 8.15pm, until it got into difficulty 13 nautical miles south of Guernsey.

It dropped from 3,900ft to 1,600ft in the space of around 20 seconds while making a sharp right turn of 180-degrees.

It then gained altitude, climbing to 2,300ft before disappearing, a final radar reading suggests.

The wreckage was found just 30m away from this final recorded reading at the bottom of the English Channel.

Flight data shows the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane got into difficulty 13 nautical miles south of Guernsey (
Image:
AAIB)
It dropped from 3,900ft to 1,600ft in the space of around 20 seconds (
Image:
AAIB)

New images of the wreckage were released yesterday by the Air Accident Investigation Branch along with the final recorded movements of the plane.

During the journey over the Channel, Sala had sent a message to friends saying he was "really scared" and that the "plane seems like it is breaking apart".

The pilot had requested to descend more gradually, apparently in order to remain in what are known as Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC).

Pilots must remain in VMC to continue flight under Visual Flight Rules, the rules under which this flight was undertaken.

The wreckage was found just 30m away from this final recorded reading at the bottom of the English Channel (
Image:
PA)

The aircraft had flown between 4,000ft and 5,000ft for most of the journey until 9.02pm when the pilot was given permission to descend out of cloud to 5,000ft.

The plane made a right turn followed by a left turn and when asked if a further descent was required, Mr Ibbotson responded: "Negative".

Ten minutes later, he asked to reduce altitude again. This was the last radio communication.

According to radar records, Mr Ibbotson is thought to have become completely disorientated, descending from 4,800ft to 4,300ft before climbing back up to 5,000ft.

The aircraft had flown between 4,000ft and 5,000ft for most of the journey (
Image:
AAIB)

He then went down to 3,900ft before flying back up to 4,200ft.

Immediately after, the plane made a gradual left turn at 9.16pm followed by a sharp 180-degree right turn while descending rapidly by about 7,000ft a minute to 1,600ft.

Moments before the crash, the aircraft is thought to have climbed to 2,300ft before plunging into the sea and splitting into three parts.

The last radar return was recorded at 9.16pm and 50 seconds.

Mr Ibbotson's flight plan was logged and mapped using a tablet but this was not found amid the wreckage.

During the crossing, Sala had sent a message to friends saying the plane seemed like was "breaking apart" (
Image:
AFP/Getty Images)

The aircraft was not fitted with an accident-protected flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder, and was not required to be.

The report also confirms the plane was not allowed to be used for commercial operations without permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

This permission had not been sought by the plane's owners or the Trustee company who hold the registration of the aircraft.

The report states: "The basis on which the passenger was being carried on N264DB has not yet been established but, previously, the pilot had carried passengers on the basis of ‘cost sharing’ ".

The report says video examinations established the aircraft was "extensively damaged".

A new, private search to find Mr Ibbotson is due to begin in the coming days (
Image:
GrimsbyLive/BPM Media)

The main body was found in three parts, held together by electrical and flying control cables.

The engine had disconnected from the cockpit area, and the rear section of the fuselage had broken away from the forward section adjacent to the trailing edge of the wing.

The outboard section of both wings, tail plane and fin were missing.

The full report is expected to take up to a year to publish.

The body of Cardiff City signing Sala signing was recovered from the plane wreckage, before his funeral was held in Argentina earlier this month.

An inquest into his death found he died from "head and trunk" injuries.

The main body of the plan was found in three parts, held together by electrical and flying control cables (
Image:
AAIB)

A new, private search to find Mr Ibbotson is due to begin in the coming days and will involve a deep-sea search of the wreck, and coastal searches by helicopter.

Almost £250,000 has been raised to help fund a new search for Mr Ibbotson’s body.

His family have previously spoken about how they won’t give up looking for him.