Flight school pilot jumps to his death mid-flight, student forced to land plane
A flight school pilot jumped to his death mid-flight, which forced his student to make an emergency landing.
The tragic incident took place in Toledo, situated in central Argentina, on July 4th. 42-year-old Leandro Andrés Bertazzo has been named as the casualty.
The 22-year-old student, who has been named in the Argentinian press as Rosario, has since revealed that he chillingly told her before jumping to his death, “You know what you have to do, carry on.”
Per CNN, after Bertazzo delivered his final nine words to his student, he proceeded to take off his headset and seatbelt before jumping out of the aircraft.
Eduardo Alvarez, director of Flying Parrot Cordoba, the company which employed Bertazzo, has since explained, “He took his headphones off, arranged his belongings including his mobile phone, took his seatbelt off, opened the door which is very difficult to open and jumped out.”
Alvarez added, “She sent a message informing about the situation and proceeded to return to the runway to land.”
He also praised Rosario for how she dealt with the unimaginable event, revealing that while she does possess a licence, she had only flown for a few hours prior to this, describing her as “very clear, decisive, mature and professional”.
The director proudly continued, “She was very shaken, but with complete professionalism she flew the plane to the airfield and made a perfect landing.”
Understandably, Alvarez, as well as everyone else at Flying Parrot Cordoba, is shook up by the unexpected death, labelling Bertazzo as an individual who was “always smiling”.
He conceded, “There’s no way to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex, so treacherous. That’s why what happened, happened.”
Local authorities are currently investigating the incident due to its unusual nature, and it being a unique case that they have never dealt with before.