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| Argentinian flight instructor Leandro Andres Bertazo |
Argentine media reported that a flight instructor died after jumping from a training plane while it was in flight, leaving the trainee to land the plane alone.
In detail, the Argentine channel TN reported that flight instructor Leandro Andres Bertazo was piloting a Cessna 150 when he suddenly turned to his student and reportedly said to her: "You know what you have to do, keep going."
She added that he then took off his headphones, unbuckled his seatbelt, pushed the door open forcefully, and jumped out of the plane.
According to the same source, the 22-year-old student, identified in the news report only as "Rosario" and who already held a pilot's license, managed to land the plane safely.
Authorities have not yet revealed why 42-year-old Leandro Andres Bertazo jumped from a Cessna plane in a suicide.
NBC News confirmed that the incident is now under investigation by the federal court in Cordoba, Argentina, and that the plane has been impounded.
In this context, Eduardo Alvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Cordoba flight school where Bertazo worked, stated that they only recently learned that the flight instructor was receiving psychiatric care and that he had no idea that Bertazo was planning to commit suicide.
Alvarez noted that Bertazo had gone on a training trip with another student earlier that day.
Alvarez stated that the instructor made this tragic decision in a way that is unimaginable and incomprehensible, noting that the trainee pilot was "very clear, decisive, mature and professional."
He continued, "She was very emotional, but with complete professionalism, she piloted the plane to the airport and landed perfectly."
Alvarez said that after the student successfully landed in the Cessna, he went directly to search for Bertazo, and added that after spotting him from the air, he radioed Central Countryside Patrol officers, who then found his body.
The director of the Flying Parrot Cordoba School of Aviation noted that Bertazzo was a handsome person with a wonderful smile, adding: "We are surprised that this happened."
Furthermore, local media explained that Leandro Andres Bertazo worked for Flying Parrot Cordoba for 10 years and was a licensed commercial pilot, according to his former boss, and also worked for a time in Chile.
According to reports, Bertazo arrived at the school in the Coronel Olmedo suburb of Cordoba on Saturday, greeted his colleagues, and then embarked on the first training flight of the day, which went smoothly. He then made the second scheduled flight with Rosario, who has a pilot's license but has not logged enough flight hours to fly a plane alone. It is noted that while flying over a rural area called Toledo, he suddenly pushed open the plane door and jumped out.
