Posted on 07/08/2026 9:07:02 AM PDT by Red Badger
A student pilot was forced to land her plane alone after her instructor 'jumped' from the aircraft during their flight in Argentina.
The 22-year-old had been training with her instructor, Leandro Bertazzo, 42, in a Cessna C-150 when he evacuated the aircraft.
Although investigators are looking into the reasons behind his sudden death, the student, who is believed to have a pilot's licence but few flying hours under her belt, has claimed he opened the plane's window and jumped.
Despite watching Mr Bertazzo plunge to his death, she still managed to land the Cessna C-150 safely and unaided at Coronel Olmedo Airport, where they took off, and alerted authorities to the emergency situation.
Mr Bertazzo, who described himself online as a former commercial pilot in Chile, was then found dead 20 minutes later in a field in the area the woman marked out as the place he could have fallen.
Eduardo Alvarez, director of flight school Flying Parrot Cordoba where Leandro had worked as an instructor for four years, recounted his conversation with the young student who said he 'jumped'.
He told Argentinian media: 'At one point Leandro told her, "You know what to do, keep moving forward."
'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.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
I’ve heard where some instructors would bail out (with a chute of course) when the student is ready to solo - of course the instructor doesn’t tell the student that beforehand.
Damn, and he wasn’t even married to her
On the way down:.......OOPS! I knew I’d forgot something!...........
Well, bye.
Pretty bad when your instructor decides that his chances are better bailing out rather than riding with you.
I bet he didn’t bother to close the door.
Far too random, wouldn’t be surprised if something other than just flight lessons were going on between them.
God bless this young lady for successfully dealing with unexpected circumstances. Many young people today cannot tie their shoes without assistance. I say this as a 30-something.
I hate when my professors kill themselves.
Makes me wonder if it’s me or them.
He was depressed that Argentina was behind late in game.
Did she push him?
There are doors.
As he passed 1,000 feet down he told himself so far so good.
Well.
Ya don’t see that every day.
“when he evacuated the aircraft.”
Usually that’s Pinochet’s responsibility, but he’s a few countries over.
There was a couple found stark naked and out of their seat belts in their crashed plane not long ago. In their ardor they forgot to set autopilot.
“ That’s a heck of a pilot license test! I guess she passed.”
Possibly but the instructor? Certainly
I’m reminded of people who attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge or something, but survived. They would later say that they regretted trying to kill themselves only about a split second after they jumped, long before they hit the water. I wonder if this pilot thought the same.
“deceleration trauma”
According to the article she already had a pilot license. I suspect she hadn't flown in awhile and was doing a check ride.
-PJ
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