A flight instructor in Argentina dies after jumping from a Cessna aircraft during a training flight, forcing his student to take control and land alone, multiple reports say. The incident occurs over Toledo in central Argentina on July 4. According to US reports carried by an outlet citing a CNN affiliate, the instructor, 42-year-old Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, is flying a Cessna 150 (Cessna C150) with a 22-year-old student named Rosario. The instructor removes his headset and seatbelt, tells the student to continue, opens the aircraft door, and jumps out mid-flight. The student reports watching him fall and says she initially thought a parachute had been deployed, but later realized it had not. The student then raises the alarm and pilots the plane unaided, landing safely at Coronel Olmedo Airport near Córdoba, a common training field for flight schools. Bertazzo’s body is recovered after the flight, with reports placing its discovery about 20 minutes later in a nearby field. Flight school director Eduardo Álvarez says the instructor showed no prior warning signs and had completed another flight earlier the same day. Investigators say the circumstances are unusual and review the aircraft and flight-school documentation, including potential issues with a hatch or safety system and related communications.
Instructor jumps from Cessna mid-flight, student lands aircraft alone in Argentina
A flight instructor in Argentina dies after jumping from a Cessna aircraft during a training flight, forcing his student to take control and land alone, multiple reports say. The incident occurs over...
- A flight instructor, Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, dies after jumping from a Cessna 150 during a training flight in central Argentina.
- The instructor’s student continues the flight and lands the plane alone, without reported damage.
- The incident occurs over Toledo, Argentina, on July 4, and the aircraft lands at Coronel Olmedo Airport near Córdoba.
- Flight school director Eduardo Álvarez says the instructor showed no apparent warning signs and had flown earlier that day.
- Authorities recover the instructor’s body after the flight and investigate potential causes, including possible aircraft hatch or safety-system issues.
An Argentinian pilot jumped out of the door of a moving plane to his death on Saturday, forcing the student aboard to land the aircraft by herself, according to US reports. A report from CNN affiliate TN on the bizarre incident indicated that the instructor, 42-year-old Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, was on board a Cessna 150 aircraft with a 22-year-old student named Rosario when he suddenly took off his headset and seatbelt. He reportedly told the student, “You know what you have to do, carry on,” and proceeded to open the door and jump out of the aircraft. A Tuesday statement from the country’s public prosecutor indicated Bertazzo’s body had been recovered after the incident, which took place in Toledo, central Argentina. A director of the Flying Parrot Córdoba flying school, Eduardo Álvarez, where Bertazzo worked, told TN that the pilot had exhibited no signs that he might be considering suicide and had even successfully completed a flight with a different student earlier that day, Álvarez said. “He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side,” he said. “It’s impossible to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex.” Álvarez described him as “a beautiful person with a great smile,” expressing surprise about the incident. The flight school head explained that opening the planes door would have been a herculean task, comparing it to trying to open the door of a car traveling at 200 kilometres an hour. Despite the midair shock, Rosario managed to land the plane safely with no damage.
1 month agoLeandro Bertazzo is reported to have fallen to his death from the plane as he was training a student (Picture: JamPress) A student pilot has spoken of how she was forced to land a plane alone after her instructor ‘jumped to his death from the cockpit’ midway through the flight. The unnamed 22-year-old had been training with her instructor, 42-year-old Leandro Bertazzo, over Toledo, Argentina, on July 4, when he reportedly opened the window of the Cessna C150 plane and jumped. The student’s account of the incident states that she watched Bertazzo plunge to his death. While she previously thought he had deployed a parachute she soon realised that was not the case. Despite witnessing such a harrowing moment — and having only limited experience in flying — the student raised the alarm before landing the plane safely and unaided at Coronel Olmedo Airport, which is based in Cordoba and commonly used by flight schools for training pilots. Reports said Mr Bertazzo’s body was found in a nearby field 20 minutes later. The unnamed student had to land the Cessna C-150 alone (Picture: JamPress) Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. Eduardo Alvarez, director of flight school Flying Parrot Cordoba, where Mr Bertazzo worked as an instructor, revealed details of his conversation with the student after the incident. Speaking to Argentinian media he explained that she told him he had ‘jumped’, adding: ‘[She said] he took his headphones off, arranged his belongings including his mobile phone, took his seatbelt off, opened the door which is very difficult to open and jumped out.’ ‘She sent a message informing about the situation and proceeded to return to the runway to land,’ he added, saying the student, who had a pilot’s licence but few flying hours under her belt, had been ‘very clear, decisive, mature and professional’. Mr Bertazzo had worked as a commercial pilot in Chile (Picture: JamPress) ‘She was very shaken, but with complete professionalism she flew the plane to the airfield and made a perfect landing,’ he added. It’s also been reported that at one point during the flight Mr Bertazzo told her: ‘You know what to do, keep moving forward.’ Mr Alvarez went on to describe him as someone who was ‘always smiling’, saying that his death had come completely out of the blue. His body was found in a nearby field 20 minutes after the plane landed (Picture: JamPress) ‘He took this tragic decision on board a plane with a person by his side,’ he said. ‘There’s no way to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex, so treacherous. That’s why what happened, happened.’ An investigation into the instructor’s death is ongoing with officials saying the circumstances surrounding the accident are so unusual they are unable to explain how it might have happened. Investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding the death (Picture: JamPress) One line of inquiry being followed is whether a mechanical failure relating to a hatch or one of the plane’s safety systems occurred, with the craft and the flight school documentation being studied, along with the communications maintained while the plane was airborne. Local reports have said Mr Bertazzo, who described himself as a former commercial pilot in Chile, had undergone neuropsychiatric treatment. However, only close family members were said to be aware of this before his tragic death occurred. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
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