LECCO – A British father of two has died after the jet plane he was co-piloting crashed into a mountain near Lake Como, aviation sources said. The other pilot on board the plane, an Italian man, is in hospital in serious condition.

 The Aermacchi 346 military jet crashed Wednesday morning into Monte Legnone, on the border between the provinces of Sondrio and Bergamo. The two pilots, who were on a training exercise, parachuted out of the plane before it crashed, but 49-year-old David Ashley did not survive. 

  The M-346 jet, intended for military pilot training, took off near Varese at 11 a.m. before losing contact 35 minutes later. Witnesses in the area reported seeing a ball of flames fall from the sky leaving a long trail of smoke before crashing onto the mountain at around 2,250 metres above sea level, on the Lecco side.

 It was manufactured by Leonardo, who write that the model is equipped with “a fly-by-wire flight control system, a man-machine interface with display for high-head and multifunctional data presentation, Hotas (Hands on Throttle And Stick) type controls and flight safety functions such as Pars (Pilot Activated Attitude Recovery System).”

 The M-346 is currently in service in the air forces of Italy, the Republic of Singapore, Israel and Poland. It has a wingspan of 9.7 metres and, powered by two Honeywell F124-Ga-200 turbofans, the jet can reach a maximum speed of 1,090 k.m. per hour while flying at low altitude. 

 Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.

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