Instructor jumps from plane during flight in Argentina, leaves 22-year-old student to land it alone

A tragic incident was recorded in Argentina, where a pilot jumped out of an airplane door while it was in motion, dying at the scene and leaving the student he was training to carry out the landing alone.

According to a statement from the country’s public prosecutor, flight instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, 42, was found dead after the incident that occurred in Toledo.

On board the Cessna 150 aircraft were Bertazzo and a 22-year-old student named Rosario, CNN-affiliated agency TN reported.

According to the student’s testimony, shortly before jumping, Bertazzo told her: “You know what you need to do, now continue on your own.” He then took off his headset and seat belt, opened the door and jumped from the plane.

Eduardo Álvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Córdoba flight school, where Bertazzo worked, told TN that there had been no sign the pilot was thinking about jumping from the aircraft.

Álvarez also said that earlier that day, Bertazzo had flown with another student as well.

“He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person beside him,” he said. “It is impossible to think about or understand, but the human mind is so complex.”

Despite being in “complete shock,” the student managed to land the plane safely.