Photo taken on March 16, 2022 shows the site where a military aircraft crashed on Monte Legnone in northern Italy. (CNSAS/Handout via Xinhua)
ROME, March 16 (Xinhua) -- One pilot has died after a military aircraft on a training flight crashed on Monte Legnone in Northern Italy on Wednesday, the jet's manufacturer Leonardo said.
The accident involving two pilots occurred around noon. Leonardo has activated an internal investigation committee, the company said.
Local media reported that two pilots, an Italian and a British man, had both parachuted from the plane before the crash. However, while the Italian man was rescued and hospitalized in Milan, the British man was found dead.
The aircraft caught fire when it was still in flight, witnesses told local media. Two helicopters, from Como and Milan respectively, attended the scene of the crash, while ambulances and firefighters also carried out a search and rescue mission.
The M-346 aircraft did not yet belong to the Italian Air Force, but was in the post-production testing phase.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, Leonardo said. ■
Italian rescuers work at the site where a military aircraft crashed on Monte Legnone in northern Italy, on March 16, 2022. (CNSAS/Handout via Xinhua)