Previously unseen pictures of the underwater wreckage of the plane carrying Emiliano Sala have been published by investigators.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch’s (AAIB) preliminary report details how the Piper Malibu aircraft was “destroyed” and when it was found on the sea bed, it was left in three parts.

The parts were held together by electrical and flying control cables. The engine had disconnected from the cockpit area and parts of both wings, the tail and the fin were missing.

Investigators also describe how the plane did not stick to a straight flight path and images show the meandering route it took.

Sala died in a plane crash over the English Channel last month as he travelled from Nantes to Cardiff, having joined the Premier League club for £15m just days earlier.

A post-mortem found he died from head and trunk injuries.

The report says the wreckage was found about 30 metres from the aircraft’s last recorded secondary radar point by the radar at Guernsey at 8:16pm.

That was about four minutes after the last recorded radio contact with Jersey radar at 8:12pm, when the pilot asked for a further descent.

Isolated showers were forecast for Guernsey at the time and rain was expected come into the area from the northwest overnight, but visibility was estimated at more than 10km (6.2miles).

The aircraft was built in 1984 and had a valid Certificate of Registration, which was due to expire in 2021.

Its last significant maintenance was an annual 100-hour check on 30 November 2018, after which it was signed back into service.

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