Revealed: First picture of seat cushion

Revealed: First picture of seat cushion 'likely to have come from plane carrying missing Cardiff City star Emiliano Sala' after walker finds it washed up on a beach in Normandy

• Mystery has surrounded footballer's plane's disappearance since last week 
• Investigators announced today that two cushions from plane have been found
• Debris washed up on a French beach, 30 miles from the plane's last position
• It is hoped that discovery of the wreckage could help explain what happened 
• Crash investigators have found two seat cushions which they believe are from the plane which was carrying Cardiff City footballer Emiliano Sala when it disappeared over the English Channel. 
  The two seat cushions washed up on the same area of coastline, near the Normandy town of Surtainville, around 30 miles from the plane's last known location.
  The Argentinian striker's family are currently in Europe after raising funds to launch their own private search for the wreckage of the plane. 
  They will be hoping the latest discovery could be the first step towards finding out what happened to the 28-year-old player and the pilot flying him from Nantes in France. 
  On Monday, the footballer's mother Mercedes and sister Romina flew over the area where Sala's plane was last located.
  

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  This seat cover, thought to have come from the plane, washed up on a beach in France
• Child minder Josette Bernard found one of the suspected plane seats on Surtainville beach. 
  The 56-year-old told MailOnline: 'I was taking a walk along the beach on Saturday afternoon, it was about 4pm. 
  'I had been walking for about an hour when I saw something floating in the sea. I thought it was a container.  
  'But I could see that it was not a container as it was brought on to the beach by the waves. Then I recognised it as the back of a seat. The back of an aircraft seat. 
  'I immediately left the beach and called the gendarmerie. The gendarmes came straight down to the beach and started looking if there was anything else. The gendarmes asked me lots of questions and I told them everything I knew.' 
• A 'priority search area' of around four square nautical miles has been established and a specialist vessel has been commissioned to carry out a survey of the seabed. 
  The AAIB statement said: 'We currently expect our underwater seabed search to start at the end of this weekend and to take up to three days. Side-scan sonar equipment will be used to try to locate the wreckage on the seabed.
  'If the wreckage is found, a remotely operated vehicle will be used to visually examine the wreckage.'   
  The light aircraft carrying 28-year-old Sala and pilot David Ibbotson disappeared on January 21 after losing contact with Jersey air traffic control on its journey from Nantes to Cardiff. 
  Sala's mother and sister travelled on a plane which flew from Guernsey Airport on Monday, and circled the island of Alderney, a week after the plane Sala was in dropped off the radar.
  The family have enlisted marine scientist David Mearns to help with a private search and the official investigation is sharing information with their team.
  The AAIB statement today said: 'We are aware that a privately operated search is also being conducted in the area, and we are liaising closely with those involved to maximise the chance of locating any wreckage and ensure a safe search operation.' 
• It is thought he may have been trying to get to warmer air after the propeller or wings became covered in ice. But a short time later, the Guernsey coastguard was alerted that the aircraft had disappeared from radar screens.
  Aviation experts have questioned why the single-propeller light aircraft was being flown in freezing conditions over the English Channel at night, where a crash into freezing water in the dark would have made survival difficult. 
  They have also queried why Mr Ibbotson, a part-time pilot and gas engineer who was not licensed to carry paying passengers, was drafted in at the last minute to fly the plane.
  It is claimed that he aborted three takeoffs and joked with friends on Facebook that he was a 'bit rusty' in the days before. 
  Players and fans held a minute's silence ahead of Cardiff City's match with Arsenal last night. 
  Sala's name was also alongside teammates on the matchday programme and a banner held up by fans read: 'We never saw you play and never saw you score, but Emiliano our beautiful Bluebird we will love you forever more'.