{"id":17892,"date":"2026-07-09T15:57:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=17892"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:57:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:57:57","slug":"flight-school-pilot-jumps-to-his-death-midair-leaving-student-to-land-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=17892","title":{"rendered":"Flight school pilot jumps to his death midair, leaving student to land plane"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Content Warning: This story discusses suicide.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

By\u00a0Jack Guy<\/strong>, CNN<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A pilot jumped out of the door of a moving plane to his death, leaving the student he was teaching to fly to land the aircraft by herself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Flight instructor Leandro Andr\u00e9s Bertazzo, 42, was found dead following the incident, which took place in Toledo, central Argentina, on Saturday (all times local), according to a statement from the country’s public prosecutor, published Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Bertazzo was on board the Cessna 150 aircraft with a 22-year-old student named Rosario, CNN affiliate TN reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The student said Bertazzo told her, “You know what you have to do, carry on,” before taking off his headset and seatbelt, opening the door and jumping out of the plane, TN reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Eduardo \u00c1lvarez, director of the Flying Parrot C\u00f3rdoba flying school where Bertazzo worked, told TN that there were no signs that the pilot was planning to throw himself from the plane.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"The<\/div>
The incident, took place in Toledo, central Argentina.<\/p>\n

SUPPLIED\/CNN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Bertazzo had gone on a flight with another student earlier that day, \u00c1lvarez said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side,” he said. “It’s impossible to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Bertazzo was “a beautiful person with a great smile,” said \u00c1lvarez. “We are surprised that this has happened.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Opening the door of a plane in mid-air is extremely difficult, explained \u00c1lvarez, who compared it to trying to open the door of a car travelling at 200 kilometres an hour (124 miles per hour).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Rosario, the student, managed to land the plane safely despite being in “complete shock,” he added. The plane was undamaged, \u00c1lvarez said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Bertazzo was highly experienced and had also worked as a flight instructor in neighbouring Chile, TN reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Prosecutors will now investigate the exact details of the incident that led to Bertazzo’s death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

-CNN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Where to get help:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason<\/li>\n
  • Lifeline<\/span>: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357<\/li>\n
  • Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 \/ 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends<\/li>\n
  • Depression Helpline<\/span>: 0800 111 757 or text 4202<\/li>\n
  • Samaritans<\/span>: 0800 726 666<\/li>\n
  • Youthline<\/span>: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz<\/li>\n
  • What’s Up<\/span>: 0800 WHATSUP \/ 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds<\/li>\n
  • Asian Family Services<\/span>: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, and English.<\/li>\n
  • Victim Support<\/span>\u00a00800 842 846.<\/li>\n
  • Rural Support Trust Helpline<\/span>: 0800 787 254<\/li>\n
  • Healthline: 0800 611 116<\/li>\n
  • Rainbow Youth<\/span>: (09) 376 4155<\/li>\n
  • OUTLine<\/span>: 0800 688 5463<\/li>\n
  • Aoake te R\u0101 bereaved by suicide service<\/span>: or call 0800 000 053<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Source: CNN & RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Content Warning: This story discusses suicide. By\u00a0Jack Guy, CNN A pilot jumped out of the door of a moving plane to his death, leaving the student he was teaching to fly to land the aircraft by herself. Flight instructor Leandro Andr\u00e9s Bertazzo, 42, was found dead following the incident, which took place in Toledo, central […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17894,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17892\/revisions\/17894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}