Aircraft
M346 Jet Trainer Still Grounded After Second Crash
This is the company-owned pre-production M346 that crashed in Italy on May 11. The type is still grounded. (Photo: Chris Pocock)
This is the company-owned pre-production M346 that crashed in Italy on May 11. The type is still grounded. (Photo: Chris Pocock)

Almost three months on from the crash of a pre-series aircraft in Italy on May 11, Alenia Aermacchi’s M346 jet remains grounded as investigations into the causes of the accident continue. The Italian manufacturer has insisted there are no similarities between this incident and the November 2011 accident in which a prototype M346 crashed off the coast of Dubai after appearing in the airshow there. A spokesman told AIN that the trainer/light attack aircraft will be flying again “very soon.”