The Scottish widow of a pilot who was killed ejecting from a military jet over the Italian Alps heard he was told the aircraft was 'broken' days before the tragedy. David Ashley, from Poole, Dorset, died while carrying out a familiarisation flight of a M346 Fighter Attack aircraft, manufactured by Leonardo SpA, when it crashed on Monte Legnone, near Colico, Lombardy, on March 16.
The 49-year-old father of two sons had been employed as an instructor to train other pilots to fly the plane and was involved in his first flight in the jet. Mr Ashley, who was flying with a flight commander, Giampaolo Goattin, 53, lost control as the jet made a second loop.
According to lawyers representing Mr Ashley's family, Mr Goattin, who survived the crash, made the order to eject from the aircraft. A coroner has called for urgent reassurance that an Italian fighter jet is safe to fly, during a pre-inquest review into the death of Mr Ashley.
