THE widow of a former RAF pilot who was killed ejecting from a military jet over the Italian Alps had been told the aircraft was “broken” days before the tragedy, an inquest heard.

David Ashley, from Poole, 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.

Heather Ashley said her husband had received a voicemail from Italian pilot Flight Commander Giampaolo Goattin who was due to take him on a training flight in the M-346 Fighter Attack jet.

The voicemail was left on Mr Ashley's phone on March 8 this year, eight days before the crash. It is not clear what the fault was.

Mrs Ashley has provided the message to Rachael Griffin, the Dorset coroner who will oversee the inquest into the 49-year-old’s death.

Bournemouth Echo: David Ashley with his wife Heather David Ashley with his wife Heather (Image: Family handout)

She also expressed concerns that the M346 is still flying and has not been grounded while the investigation is carried out.

Speaking after a pre-inquest review hearing today, Mrs Ashley said: "I'm concerned these jets are still flying.

"Pilots and the public are still at risk because we don't have the answer to what took my husband's life. “My biggest concern and the main purpose of this hearing is to get an answer and get some truth.

“He deserves an answer. He was a highly competent pilot, professional and very, very thorough in everything he does, as all of his colleagues will contest. I’m not just saying that as his biggest fan, his wife, I have no doubt about my husband’s competence.

“We need to know what happened to the jet, need to know the order of events, so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again, as I don’t want anyone to go through what my sons have gone through.”

James Healy-Pratt, Mrs Ashley's lawyer, also called on Leonardo SpA, the manufacturers of the Italian jet, to be open and transparent over the fault.

Paying tribute to her husband, who was born in Leicester and previously lived in Leeds, Mrs Ashley said: “He was quite some man, he certainly lived his life to the full and thank goodness he did because, sadly, it was cut too short.

“He was a very active, very motivated, very inspirational, very driven man, hence why he did what he did – he was a very successful pilot, his dream job, and loved his boys very much.

“I can’t possibly begin to explain how big a hole he has left.”

Mr Ashley, a former RAF pilot, was working as an independent contractor for Leonardo SpA, an Italian aeronautical company that supplies fighter jets, and carrying out his first familiarisation training flight when the crash occurred.

He was killed on March 16 this year when the £25m fighter jet crashed in Colico-Lecco in northern Italy. Both pilots ejected shortly before the aircraft crashed into a mountain.

Mr Goattin was taken to hospital and survived the crash.

The hearing heard there were news articles which suggested the plane in question had been sold to the Turkmenistan Air Force but returned to Italy for certain modifications.

It is not known if these modifications had been carried out when the fatal flight took place.

At the pre-inquest review hearing, Mrs Griffin said: "I have an audio recording of a call from Mr Goattin about the jet being broken previously and the previous flight being cancelled. This being a rearranged flight on March 16.

"I need information about the technical reason the flight was delayed until March 16, in relation to the voicemail from Mr Goattin left for Mr Ashley that the jet is broken, in his words. If it is protected by Italian law I want to know what that law is and why."

Miranda Hill, counsel for Leonardo SpA, told the hearing that the company felt very constrained on what information they could provide at this stage due to the Italian laws of secrecy in investigations.

She said as an Italian company with the Italian ministry of defence as a shareholder, they were very concerned about not breaching any laws.

The hearing heard the inquest could be held up for a 'considerable' amount of time due to the ongoing Italian investigation into whether there will be any criminal proceedings.

Mr Healy-Pratt, of Keystone Law, told the court the Italian criminal investigation expert's report was due last month but had been pushed back until March next year and the family were not confident it will be received in March either.

Mrs Griffin assured the family she intended to carry out a full investigation into Mr Ashley's death but that would be held up by the Italian investigation.

Because the plane had a state registration and was a military not a civilian aircraft, there is no independent air accident report that would be carried out in this country under the Air Accident Investigation Branch.

The inquest heard the only Italian investigation report would be by an expert for the prosecution and any defendant could then also obtain their own expert.

Mr Healy-Pratt told the court another European air crash investigation he was involved in took 12 years for French authorities to go ahead with criminal proceedings.

He said: "These criminal proceedings do have a regrettable tendency to run on for a considerable amount of time. That's something that concerns the family."

Mr Ashley's family are suing Leonardo SpA, as well as Mr Goattin, and are seeking a £1m compensation claim.

The next inquest review will be held in February next year.