A LIGHT aircraft which crashed in Italy killing a March dentist and three other passengers was “a tragedy that was clearly avoidable”, an inquest heard.

Coroner William Morris said “pilot error” caused the horrific smash near the town of Rovereto, in the Veneto area of the country, on June 1 2008.

He also said pilot Vittorio Rossetti could have taken a safer route given the landscape of the area and that the aircraft was 88kg overweight.

Full inquest report in this week’s Cambs Times, out on Friday.