Man behind the hunt for Emiliano Sala's plane promises answers

The American marine scientist behind the hunt for the wreckage of Emiliano Sala's plane has promised he'll find answers, but warned that the plane has 'clearly broken up'.

David Mearns revealed search efforts to recover the missing plane began on Saturday morning and are focusing on an area north of Guernsey.

The plane carrying Sala and pilot David Ibbotson disappeared over the English Channel on January 21 after leaving Nantes for Cardiff, who the Argentine striker had just signed for in a deal worth £15m.

The official search for the missing plane was called off 10 days ago, though Sala's family refused to give up hope and they set up a funding campaign which was backed by Premier League players Laurent Koscielny and Ilkay Gundogan.

The appeal raised nearly £260,000 to pay for the private search operation. 'I want to help them, as simple as that, any way we can,' said Mearns, speaking on Guernsey on Saturday. 'We are giving the families the best chance to find the answers they don't have.'

Sonar and remote controlled vehicles are being used to scour the sea bed for any signs of the plane.

'The family are devastated we're trying to provide answers, that's the ultimate objective,' Mearns said. 'The plane has been badly broken up and we are looking for a debris field. We are confident of finding the wreckage in the next three days.'