Just days before the disaster, a former RAF pilot who died after ejecting from a £25 million military jet over the Italian Alps was informed that the plane was “damaged,” his wife said today.
The Italian pilot who was scheduled to accompany David Ashley on a training flight in the M-346 Fighter Attack plane left him a voicemail, Heather Ashley, who has filed a £1 million lawsuit for damages, said before an inquest.
She claims that Trip Commander Giampaolo Goattin informed Mr. Ashley in the message that the aircraft was “broken” at the time and that their flight would need to be delayed.
According to reports, Mr. Ashley’s phone received the message on March 8 of this year, eight days before the tragedy.
Rachael Griffin, the Dorset coroner in charge of the inquiry investigating Mr. Ashley’s death, has received the communication from Mrs. Ashley, a resident of Poole.
She also raised worry about the M-346’s continued operation and the lack of a temporary grounding throughout the probe.
After today’s pre-inquest review hearing, Mrs. Ashley said: “David was supposed to start flying so many times and he was informed the jet was not functioning.
Before the trip, it felt like he kept hearing that the plane wasn’t ready or that it was broken. These planes are still in service today, which worries me.
We still don’t know what killed my spouse, so pilots and the general public are at danger. Finding out why his life was cut short is my first priority.
“He was a very skilled and meticulous pilot.
“I have complete faith that the coroner will solve this case,” the speaker said.
The Italian jet’s makers, Leonardo SpA, were also urged to be open and upfront about the claimed flaw by Mrs. Ashley’s attorney, James Healy-Pratt.
The coroner has more than 90% of the evidence, including the black boxes, and the manufacturer Leonardo claims that their information is constrained.
Maybe they could try harder. Clarity and transparency are required. Regarding what they have done and haven’t done, Leonardo has sent conflicting statements.
“This is the third loss of control accident involving this brand of aircraft in the last 11 years.” After the last disaster, they grounded the planes and released a statement. Nothing except stillness this time.
When the tragedy happened, Mr. Ashley, a 49-year-old father of two and former RAF pilot, was working as an independent contractor for Leonardo SpA, an Italian fighter jet supplier, and was completing his first familiarization training flight.
When the £25 million fighter plane crashed in Colico-Lecco in northern Italy on March 16, he perished. Just before the plane crashed into a mountain, both pilots ejected.
Mr. Goattin, who survived the collision, was brought to the hospital.
The committee learned that press reports stated the aforementioned jet had been sold to the Turkmenistan Air Force before being brought back to Italy for certain modifications.
If these improvements had been made at the time of the fateful flight, it is unknown.
Mrs. Griffin stated: “I have an audio recording of a call from Mr. Goattin concerning the jet being broken earlier and the prior trip being cancelled” during the pre-inquest review hearing. This flight was rescheduled until March 16.
“I require information on the technical cause of the flight’s delay till March 16 in light of Mr. Goattin’s voicemail to Mr. Ashley, in which he claimed that the jet was broken. If Italian legislation is used to protect it, please tell me what it is and why.
Due to Italian rules requiring investigation-related confidentiality, Miranda Hill, counsel for Leonardo SpA, said during the hearing that the business felt severely confined in terms of the information it could disclose at this time.
As an Italian corporation with the Italian Ministry of Defense as a stakeholder, she said they were quite worried about not breaking any regulations.
The Italian inquiry, which is still going on, may cause the inquest to be delayed for a “significant” length of time, according to the hearing.
The Italian criminal investigation expert’s report, which was due last month but was postponed until March of the next year, according to Mr. Healy-Pratt, was not expected by the family in March either.
Mrs. Griffin told the family that although she wanted to conduct a thorough inquiry into Mr. Ashley’s death, the Italian probe would cause a delay.
There is no independent air accident report that would be conducted in this nation under the AAIB since the plane had a state registration and was a military, not a civilian, aircraft.
The sole Italian investigative report would be provided to the inquest by an expert working for the prosecution, and any defendant might then hire their own expert.
In another European aviation disaster inquiry he was engaged in, Mr. Healy-Pratt said in court that it took French authorities 12 years to pursue criminal charges.
“These criminal processes regrettably have a propensity to drag on for a significant length of time,” he remarked. The family is concerned about it.
Along with Mr. Goattin, Leonardo SpA is being sued by Mr. Ashley’s family, who are seeking £1 million in damages.
The next inquest review is scheduled for February of the following year.