Leonardo jet trainer aircraft crashes in Italian Alps, killing one

ROME – An M-346 jet trainer aircraft undergoing test flights by manufacturer Leonardo has crashed in northern Italy, causing the death of one of the two pilots on board.

Both pilots managed to eject from the aircraft before it crashed into a mountain but one of them, a British civilian pilot, was found dead, while the other – an Italian employee of Leonardo – survived with light injuries, the company said.

The aircraft, which was due for delivery to an export customer, took off from Leonardo’s facility at Venegono Superiore at 11am on Wednesday.

In a statement, Leonardo said, “The flight plan included trials aimed at demonstrating specific capabilities which had already been tested during several flights already carried out in the past.”

It added, “At 11:35AM, any contact with the aircraft was lost.”

The aircraft crashed into Mount Legnone near Lake Como, prompting rescue services to search for the ejected pilots on the slopes of the mountain.

Leonardo said the employee of the firm who survived was a test pilot, while the British victim was an instructor pilot outsourced from an external company.

“Leonardo’s top management express their most heartfelt condolences for the loss of the pilot,” said the company, which added it had launched an internal investigation into the causes of the crash.

The aircraft was known to be undergoing test flights before export to an overseas customer. Leonardo signed last year to sell six jets to Qatar , while Greece is also set to purchase ten jets as part of a deal with Israel to set up its own flight school.

In 2020, another six aircraft were ordered in a light fighter version by an unnamed overseas customer thought to be Turkmenistan.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——一架由制造商莱昂纳多公司进行试飞的M-346喷气式教练机在意大利北部坠毁，造成机上两名飞行员中的一人死亡。

据该公司称，两名飞行员在飞机撞山前成功弹射逃生，但其中一名英国民用飞行员被发现死亡，而另一名意大利莱昂纳多公司员工则受了轻伤幸存下来。

这架原计划交付给出口客户的飞机于周三上午 11 点从莱昂纳多位于韦内戈诺苏佩里奥雷的工厂起飞。

莱昂纳多公司在一份声明中表示：“此次飞行计划包括旨在展示特定功能的试验，这些功能已在过去多次飞行中得到测试。”

声明还补充道：“上午 11 点 35 分，与飞机的所有联系都中断了。”

飞机坠毁在科莫湖附近的莱尼奥内山上，救援人员随即在山坡上搜寻弹射出来的飞行员。

莱昂纳多公司表示，该公司幸存的员工是一名试飞员，而英国遇难者是一名从外部公司外包的飞行教官。

“莱昂纳多公司的高层管理人员对飞行员的遇难表示最深切的哀悼，”该公司表示，并补充说，公司已对事故原因展开内部调查。

据悉，这架飞机在出口给海外客户之前正在进行试飞。莱昂纳多公司去年签署了向卡塔尔出售六架喷气式飞机的协议，而希腊也将购买十架喷气式飞机，作为与以色列达成协议的一部分，以建立自己的飞行学校。

2020 年，一位未透露姓名的海外客户（据信是土库曼斯坦）又订购了 6 架轻型战斗机版本的飞机。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。