An Argentine flight instructor plunged to his death during a lesson after exiting the aircraft mid-flight, reportedly telling his stunned student, “You know what you have to do,” before leaving her to bring the plane down on her own.
Authorities identified the instructor as Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, who jumped from a Cessna 150G while flying over Toledo, a town in central Argentina, on July 4, according to an announcement from Attorney General Carlos Gonella’s office.
“You know what you have to do, carry on,” Bertazzo told Rosario, 22, before leaving the aircraft, Argentine news outlet Todos Noticias (TN) reported.
Bertazzo then reportedly released his seatbelt, took off his headset, opened the plane’s door and jumped out.
Rosario, who already holds a private pilot’s license, quickly contacted officials at the Flying Parrot flight school in Córdoba, where she was talked through emergency procedures and managed to land the training aircraft safely.
READ ALSO: Flight Instructor Who Jumped From Plane Mid-Lesson Had Been Seeing Psychiatrist
Although deeply shaken by the ordeal, the student was praised for staying composed and successfully guiding the plane back to the ground.
“Very clear, decisive, mature, and professional,” Flying Parrot director Eduardo Álvarez said of Rosario, according to the outlet. “She was very shaken, but with complete professionalism, she piloted the plane to the airfield and landed perfectly. She maintained a very high level of training and professionalism.”
Álvarez later located Bertazzo’s body during a search flight about 15 minutes after the jump and directed first responders to a field in a rural part of Córdoba.
Bertazzo was pronounced dead at the scene.
Álvarez, who worked closely with Bertazzo, didn’t understand why his instructor jumped out of the plane.
“He made this tragic decision aboard an aircraft with one other person by his side. 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,” Álvarez said, according to the outlet.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into Bertazzo’s death after seizing the aircraft to determine the circumstances leading up to the fatal plunge, the attorney general said Tuesday.
Bertazzo allegedly had been suffering mentally and had checked himself into a clinic for mental health unbeknownst to anyone but his close relatives, the outlet reported.
“He had been in a neuropsychiatric institute, but nobody knew about it. Only his family,” Álvarez revealed.
Bertazzo kept his struggles hidden as no one at the flight school noticed anything off with him.
“There’s a very close student-instructor relationship in a professional sense, but none of those who flew with him, nor those of us who saw him, could detect that he was going to make that decision to jump out of an aircraft. Obviously, something was up,” Álvarez told TN.
The training plane was left undamaged, including the door.
Officials were mystified by Bertazzo’s jump, saying it is difficult to open the aircraft’s doors midflight, comparing it to opening a car door while driving roughly 125 mph.
Bertazzo was a veteran pilot with years of experience and multiple licenses, including working as an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), a first-class commercial pilot, and a flight instructor.
He briefly worked in neighboring Chile during his career, the outlet reported.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
