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Flight instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo took a student for a lesson in the air on July 4, 2026, in Argentina. Midflight, Bertazzo, 42, reportedly jumped out of the plane to his death, leaving the student to land the aircraft.
He allegedly gave her just a second’s warning before departing the Cessna 150. Miraculously, the 22-year-old student, identified only as Rosario, successfully landed the plane and survived. Government officials are now piecing together the tragic situation.
Bertazzo allegedly gave Rosario a message before he jumped.
According to CNN affiliate TN, the flight took place in Toledo, in the central part of the country. Rosario claimed Bertazzo looked at her and said, “You know what you have to do, carry on.” He then allegedly removed his headset, opened the door of the Cessna 150, and jumped out of the plane. Although she was in “complete shock,” Rosario successfully landed the plane.
Bertazzo’s actions shocked his employer.
Eduardo Álvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Córdoba flying school where Bertazzo worked, told TN Bertazzo took another student for a lesson earlier that day. He gave no indication that anything was wrong, and no one ever expected him to jump.
“He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side,” Álvarez said. “It’s impossible to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex.”
According to Álvarez, opening an airplane door midflight is extremely hard to do. He compared it to attempting to opening a car door traveling 124 miles per hour. The former employer called Bertazzo “a beautiful person with a great smile,” he said. “We are surprised that this has happened.”
Bertazzo may have spent time receiving mental health care.
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Álvarez told a news outlet that Bertazzo’s family was the only one who could truly understand what he’d been going through. He alleged Bertazzo spent time in a neuropsychiatric institution, but colleagues were unaware.
“There’s a very close student-instructor relationship in a professional sense, but none of us who flew, nor any of us who saw him, could have detected that he was going to make the decision to jump from an aircraft. Clearly, there was something in his psyche,” he told the outlet.
“While we are obligated to not fly if there’s even the slightest situation that prevents someone from being physically fit to fly—and that’s a very clear directive—how can you detect this situation without knowing the background? We’re all shocked,” he added.
Bertazzo’s death remains under investigation.
Per a release from Attorney General Carlos Gonella’s office, Bertazzo’s death remains under investigation.
“The case was referred by the Río Segundo investigating prosecutor’s office, headed by Patricia Baulies, after declaring itself incompetent to intervene, after having taken the first measures, including placing the Cessna 150G aircraft under police custody,” per a news release. “The Attorney General is currently focused on the investigation, in which no formal complaints have yet been filed.”
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