Emiliano Sala search team probing four theories - including footballer is alive in a life raft

Emiliano Sala [Courtesy]

The search teams attempting to locate the plane carrying Emiliano Sala have identified four possible scenarios that would explain its disappearance.

The Cardiff striker was on board the plane along with the pilot and another passenger as he travelled from Nantes to the Welsh capital on Monday.

The search was called off on Tuesday night before it resumed at 7.30am this morning.

And Guernsey Police have focused their search on four possible outcomes:

1. They have landed elsewhere but not made contact
2. They landed on water, have been picked up by a passing ship but not made contact
3. They landed on water and made it into the life raft we know was on board
4. The aircraft broke up on contact with the water, leaving them in the sea

They added that their main hope is that the passengers made it on to the life raft as a military jet was called in to help with the search.

Sala had already signed for Cardiff [Courtesy]

Earlier the police force said: "We have resumed searching. Two planes are taking off & will search a targeted area we believe has the highest likelihood of finding anything, based on review of the tides and weather since it went missing.

"Coastal areas around Alderney and off-lying rocks and islands will also be searched from the air. Updates will be provided once information is available."

The chances of finding Sala alive are "slim" if the plane landed on water, Guernsey Police said on Tuesday. 

The search resumes after a WhatsApp voice message emerged that Sala sent to friends while on the plane bound for Cardiff.

In the recording, the footballer says he is "getting scared" and "aboard a plane that seems like it is falling to pieces".