Student Pilot Successfully Landed Plane By Herself After Instructor Jumped To His Death Mid-Flight

Crazy story out of Toledo, Argentina, this week as a flight instructor decided to jump to his death mid-flight, leaving his student pilot alone on the plane.

Amazingly, the 22-year-old studentsafely landed the Cessna C-150 aircraft by herself after Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, 42, lobbed himself out of the aircraft.

According to investigations by the Argentine public prosecutor and local aviation officials, Bertazzo turned to his student, named Rosario, mid-flight and told her: “You know what you have to do, carry on.”

He calmly removed his aviation headset, grabbed his belongings, unfastened his seatbelt, forced open the cabin door… and casually jumped out of the plane.

Despite her shock, Rosario maintained full control of the two-seat aircraft. She contacted air traffic control and executed a perfect, damage-free landing at the Coronel Olmedo Airport near Córdoba.

Eduardo Álvarez, director of Flying Parrot Córdoba, praised the student for her skill and professionalism. Another aircraft sent to search for Bertazzo later found his body in a field around 15 – 20 minutes after the alarm was raised.

Bertazzo had worked as an instructor at Flying Parrot Córdoba for four years and had also been a commercial pilot. Colleagues were completely stunned at the news as he was generally a happy guy.

Turns out he had been receiving neuropsychiatric medical treatment, though only close relatives were aware before the tragedy.

A suicidal, medicated pilot is obviously a terrifying prospect, but in Bertazzo’s case, it sounds like he wanted to take his own life and purposely waited until he had a student he knew could land the plane alone before he jumped.

The student did incredibly well to hold it together after experiencing something like that, so no doubt she’s well on her way to become a fully-qualified and licensed pilot. Unless she now develops mental issues of her own due to what she saw that day?

If that’s the case, she’s got a hell of an answer for “name one time you overcame adversity?” at her next job interview.

For the British Airways pilot who was sacked after snorting coke off a woman’s breasts before an 11-hour flight, click HERE.