A flight instructor who worked at the Flying Parrot Flight School in Córdoba, Argentina, unfastened his seatbelt, opened the cabin door and leaped to his death from a two-seat Cessna C-150 on July 4, 2026, leaving a student pilot who held a private license to land the aircraft alone. Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, 42, jumped from the plane at roughly 820 feet over Toledo, a small town south of Córdoba, and his body was recovered from a field shortly afterward. The student, identified publicly as Rosario, was hospitalized for severe psychological trauma following the incident.

Rosario had already obtained her private pilot license and was completing additional flight hours at the time of the incident. She took off with Bertazzo from Coronel Olmedo Airport in Córdoba province for what was intended to be a routine training flight. At around 6 p.m. local time, Bertazzo turned to her, told her she knew what to do and to keep moving forward, then methodically removed his headset, set aside his mobile phone, and pushed open the cabin door. According to Rosario, opening the door mid-flight was a significant physical feat, as air pressure makes it extremely difficult to do so under normal conditions.

Pilot Completes Emergency Landing After Instructor’s Jump

Rosario initially believed Bertazzo may have deployed a parachute, but she quickly realized he had not. She immediately radioed for help, followed emergency procedures, and guided the undamaged Cessna back to the airfield entirely on her own. Álvarez received the distress alert and immediately organized a search with colleagues. Within a quarter of an hour, they found Bertazzo’s remains in a field, where first responders pronounced him dead.

“She was very shaken, but with complete professionalism, she flew the plane to the airfield and made a perfect landing,” Álvarez said. He called her actions “very clear, decisive, mature and professional.”

Instructor Showed No Outward Signs of Distress

Bertazzo, a qualified commercial pilot and instructor who had also worked as a commercial pilot and instructor in neighboring Chile, had arrived at work that day in seemingly normal spirits. He greeted colleagues warmly as usual, though one detail stood out in retrospect: instead of driving his own car, Bertazzo had asked a student to pick him up from the home he shared with his parents in a Córdoba neighborhood. Álvarez recalled the morning as unremarkable, with conversation flowing easily and no visible signs of distress.

Colleagues consistently described Bertazzo as cheerful, professional, and impeccably presented. He had trained at the flight school for roughly a decade before joining its staff some four years ago. He was also believed to have been pursuing a position with a major airline at the time of his death. That same morning, he had completed an earlier re-training flight with a fellow licensed pilot — a session that passed without incident.

Flight school staff said none of Bertazzo’s colleagues had noticed anything concerning during the routine physical and mental health evaluations that Argentine aviation regulations require every six months. Local reports indicated, however, that Bertazzo had received neuropsychiatric treatment, though only close relatives were reportedly aware of this before the tragedy.

Federal Authorities Examining Circumstances

The Federal Justice of Córdoba is now investigating the incident, which has stunned Argentina’s aviation community. In the immediate aftermath, investigators examined whether a mechanical fault — specifically involving a hatch or one of the aircraft’s safety systems — might have played a role in Bertazzo’s exit from the plane. However, witness accounts have since pointed toward a deliberate act.

Jurisdiction over the case has shifted since the investigation began: a Río Segundo provincial prosecutor initially handled the matter as a possible case of negligent homicide before declaring herself without competent authority, and the case has since been referred to federal prosecutor Carlos Gonella, who is overseeing federal cases in Córdoba during the current judicial recess. Authorities are examining the plane’s service history, records kept by the flight school, and all in-flight radio communications that were captured during the incident. The Cessna has been placed in judicial custody, and Argentina’s Transportation Safety Board has joined the Federal Justice in examining the circumstances of Bertazzo’s death.

Álvarez, who described Bertazzo as a close friend, said the local aviation community has been left deeply unsettled by the incident, with those who knew Bertazzo expressing disbelief that a man remembered as warm, dedicated, and always smiling could have come to such an end.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.