A 22-year-old student pilot safely landed a Cessna 150 solo in Cordoba, Argentina on Saturday, July 4, after her flight instructor jumped from the aircraft mid-flight in an apparent suicide.
The flight instructor, identified as 42-year-old Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, unfastened his seatbelt, removed his headset, and exited the airplane while flying approximately 250 meters above the ground over the town of Toledo, according to Del Sur Diario.
The student pilot, named only as Rosario, held a flying license but was accumulating required flight hours when Bertazzo left the aircraft, according to reports by La Nacion.
Rosario managed to take complete control of the aircraft, alerted air traffic control about the situation, and landed the plane without injury before guiding authorities to the location where Bertazzo fell.
Emergency personnel conducted a search operation in the designated area and discovered the body of Bertazzo, who was subsequently declared dead at the scene.
School Director Expresses Shock
Flying Parrot Cordoba school director Eduardo Álvarez stated that Bertazzo had worked at the training facility for four years and held an FAA Airline Transport Pilot license.
"You know what you have to do, carry on," said flight instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo before jumping from the aircraft, according to CNN affiliate TN.
School officials noted that Bertazzo had already completed a flight with another student earlier that day and showed no prior indicators of distress or unusual intent.
"That day, we saw Leandro like any other," said Eduardo Álvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Cordoba flying school.
"He arrived cheerful, kissing everyone as usual.
The only thing that stood out was that, instead of coming in his own car as usual, he had asked a student to pick him up at the house where he lived with his parents.
They chatted the whole way and everything seemed fine."
The director expressed shock over the incident, adding that the flight school staff was completely unaware that Bertazzo was experiencing personal difficulties.
"He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side," said Álvarez.
"It’s impossible to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex."
The father of the deceased instructor informed La Nacion that his son was undergoing a difficult period and had been receiving psychiatric treatment.
Federal Prosecutor’s Office No. 2 in Cordoba has launched an official investigation into the mid-flight death, and authorities confirmed that no formal complaints have been filed.
