A pilot jumps from the door of a moving plane and dies, and the student who was teaching him how to fly the plane lands the plane by himself.
Leandro Andres Bertazzo, a 42-year-old flight instructor, was found dead in Toledo, central Argentina, on Saturday, according to a statement from the country’s prosecutor released on Tuesday.
Bertazzo was on board the Cessna 150 with a 22-year-old student named Rosario, CNN affiliate TN reported.
TN reported that Bertazzo told her, “You know what you have to do, just keep going,” before taking off his headset and seatbelt, opening the door and jumping out of the plane.
Eduardo Alvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Cordoba Aviation School where Bertazzo worked, told TN there was no sign that the pilot was trying to throw himself from the plane.
Alvarez said Bertazzo had been on a plane with another student earlier that day.
“He made this tragic decision on a plane with another person by his side,” he said. “It’s impossible to think about or understand it, but the human mind is very complex.”
Bertazzo “was a beautiful person with a great smile,” Alvarez said. “We are surprised that something like this happened.”
Opening a plane door in the air is extremely difficult, Alvarez explained, comparing it to trying to open a car door traveling at 200 km/h (124 mph).
He added that Rosario, a student, managed to land the plane safely despite being in a “state of complete shock”. Alvarez said the plane was unharmed.
Bertazzo was highly experienced and had also worked as a flight instructor in neighboring Chile, The Tennessee reported.
Prosecutors will now investigate the exact details of the incident that led to Bertazzo’s death.
