Instructor Pilot Jumps to Death from Plane, Student Lands Aircraft Safely

Buenos Aires. During flight training in Argentina, an instructor pilot jumped from a flying plane and lost his life. After that, the student who was alone in the plane landed the aircraft safely in an extremely difficult situation.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office of Argentina, the incident occurred last Saturday in the Toledo region of central Argentina. The body of 42-year-old Leandro Andrés Bertazzo was found after the incident.

Bertazzo was giving flight training to 22-year-old student Rosario in a 'Cessna 150' aircraft. According to local media, before jumping from the plane, he told the student, 'You know what you have to do, go ahead,' opened his headset and seatbelt, opened the plane door, and jumped out. Eduardo Alvarez, director of Flying Parrot Cordoba Flying School, where Bertazzo worked, said that there were no prior indications of the pilot taking such a step.

According to him, Bertazzo had also conducted a training flight with another student on the same day. 'He took such a tragic decision in the presence of another person in the plane. It is very difficult to understand, but the human mind is very complex,' Alvarez said. Alvarez remembered Bertazzo as an extremely good person who always kept smiling and said that such an incident was shocking for everyone.

He mentioned that opening the door of a flying plane is extremely difficult, comparing it to trying to open the door of a car moving at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. The student Rosario was in severe mental shock after the incident. Despite that, she successfully landed the plane safely. Officials said there was no damage to the aircraft.

Bertazzo was an experienced pilot and had also worked as a flight instructor in neighboring Chile. Argentine authorities have started a detailed investigation into the real cause and circumstances of the incident.