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 ...
Once he hit the ground, he didn’t have a care in the world left to worry about
You’re no jumping out of a 150 window.
About 30 minutes earlier, he made the mistake of asking how her day was going.
He’ll never get over Macho Grande.
he probably got tired of hearing about it and got out of the plane.
I think we can rule out “She pushed him out”.
Wow, file this one under “weirdest aviation story ever told”
LOL...probably the world’s only flight where you get to log BOTH solo and duo!
I have to suspect this was a robbery gone bad.
It depends on how the door opens.
If it’s hinged like most cars doors, the wind tends to jam it closed.
If it’s a fold up or down, it’s not a big deal.
I can’t recall but think this model had both (or rather one or the other) depending on the year.
He thought he had a better chance than landing with her.
He thought turkeys could fly.
I think every other CFI in the whole world waited until the plane was on the ground before letting the student go solo!….lol
LOL...I can’t believe somebody made that...and you remembered it! How apropos!
I just hope he signed her off for solo flight before jumping out!
Yeah well, she solo’d anyway ... :D
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