Military experts join search for missing soccer player's aircraft

British military experts have joined the search for the light aircraft that vanished over the English Channel with Argentinian soccer player Emiliano Sala on board.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which is also known as the AAIB, confirmed it had commissioned the Ministry of Defence salvage experts in response to a request from the Argentinian government.

The search for 28-year-old Sala and pilot David Ibbotson was earlier halted but will now be ramped back up after the appeal from the Argentinian embassy in London, and from Argentina's president, Mauricio Macri.

The embassy welcomed the news, saying in a statement that UK Foreign Affairs Secretary Jeremy Hunt confirmed that the British government had "agreed to the Argentinian government's request to extend the search for the missing aircraft".

"In a letter addressed to his Argentine counterpart, Jorge Faurie, Jeremy Hunt informed that, as soon as the weather conditions allow, the AAIB will start the underwater search," the statement said. "He also expressed his solidarity with Emiliano's family."

Sala had signed for English Premier League side Cardiff City for 15 million pounds ($19.6 million) and was en route to the Welsh capital from Nantes in France, where he previously played, when his plane disappeared on Monday, Jan 21. The Piper PA-46 Malibu plane was close to the Channel Islands when contact was lost.

The Guardian newspaper said the British Ministry of Defence's Salvage and Marine Operations Project Team will work alongside shipwreck specialists hired privately by Sala's family as the result of a GoFundMe appeal that raised more than 300,000 pounds. CNN said the military experts will use side-scan sonar equipment to probe the seabed.

Two blue seat cushions thought to be from the missing aircraft washed up on the French coast on Wednesday, around 60 kilometers from the last known location of the aircraft, and the AAIB says it has identified a 14-square-kilometer "priority search area" where it believes the plane will be found.

"From the moment we were notified of the missing aircraft, we have been looking at the feasibility of conducting an underwater seabed search for aircraft wreckage," the AAIB said in a statement. "Due to the weather and sea conditions, we currently expect our underwater seabed search to start at the end of this weekend and to take up to three days."

The BBC said the FPV Morven, the vessel that will be used by the privately-funded team hired by Sala's family, arrived in Guernsey on Thursday.

The Evening Standard quoted David Mearns, a spokesperson for Sala's family, as saying his relatives "still have some hope".

"They're looking at this as a missing person, a missing plane, and until they are satisfied, that's the mode that we're in," he said.