It’s an extreme teaching method but it works
— HowlingMutant (@Howlingmutant0) July 8, 2026
A student pilot was forced to land her plane alone after her instructor ‘jumped’ from the aircraft during their flight in Argentina.
The 22-year-old had been training with her instructor, Leandro Bertazzo, 42, in a Cessna C-150 when he evacuated the aircraft.
Although investigators are looking into the reasons behind his sudden death, the student, who is believed to have a pilot’s licence but few flying hours under her belt, has claimed he opened the plane’s window and jumped.
Despite watching Mr Bertazzo plunge to his death, she still managed to land the Cessna C-150 safely and unaided at Coronel Olmedo Airport, where they took off, and alerted authorities to the emergency situation.
Mr Bertazzo, who described himself online as a former commercial pilot in Chile, was then found dead 20 minutes later in a field in the area the woman marked out as the place he could have fallen.
Eduardo Alvarez, director of flight school Flying Parrot Cordoba where Leandro had worked as an instructor for four years, recounted his conversation with the young student who said he ‘jumped’.
He told Argentinian media: ‘At one point Leandro told her, “You know what to do, keep moving forward.”
‘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.