World3 min(s) read
Published 08:47 09 Jul 2026 GMT
An Argentine flight instructor jumped to his death during a lesson, leaving his student to land the aircraft alone.
The horrific incident took place in the air over Toledo, Córdoba, Argentina, as instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo was giving a practical flying lesson in a Cessna C-150.
CNN reported that Rosario, a 22-year-old student, was trying to build up her flying hours, despite already having a private pilot license.
Student pilots who are building up hours must fly alongside an instructor or safety pilot, and for her, it was Bertazzo.
Mid-flight, the instructor reportedly told the student: "You know what to do," before removing his headset, arranging his items, taking off his seatbelt and jumping out of the aircraft.
Rosario managed to remain calm despite the ordeal, safely landing the aircraft.
Rosario was praised by Eduardo Álvarez, the director of flight school Flying Parrot Córdoba, after she managed to maintain control of the aircraft in an emergency situation while being in "complete shock."
Later, the director took off in another aircraft to search for the plane instructor, finding his body in a field around 15 to 20 minutes after the alarm was raised.
The instructor was pronounced dead by authorities upon their arrival.
Bertazzo was an instructor at Flying Parrot Córdoba for four years, having been a commercial pilot in the past.
His colleagues claimed they did not notice anything out of the ordinary before this flight, as Álvarez claimed that he'd even completed another lesson earlier that day as normal.
Speaking to CNN affiliate TN, the director said: “He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side,
“It’s impossible to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex.”
Reflecting on the person that Bertazzo was, Álvarez said that he was “a beautiful person with a great smile,” admitting that “We are surprised that this has happened.”
Álvarez explained that opening the door of a plane while it is in flight isn't an easy task, comparing it to opening a car door while it's traveling at 200 kilometers an hour.
The plane was undamaged after the harrowing incident.
Bertazzo had previously worked as a flight instructor in Chile, and authorities had looked at whether there was a mechanical issue with the plane.
But investigators are now treating the case as a possible suicide, as authorities in Córdoba are looking into the case, desperate to find the exact details of the instructor's death.
The late Bertazzo's father said that he has consulted a psychiatric clinic as he was “having a bad time.”
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