Instructor Leaps To His Death Mid-Flight Leaving Student To Land Plane Alone

An aviation training flight in Argentina turned deadly on July 4, 2026, when instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo jumped from a Cessna 150G mid-lesson, forcing his 22-year-old student, Rosario, to land the aircraft alone. The incident occurred over the town of Toledo in Córdoba province, according to Argentina’s Attorney General Carlos Gonella’s office. Before exiting, Bertazzo reportedly told her to “carry on,” unbuckled his seat belt, removed his headset, opened the aircraft door, and jumped. Rosario immediately contacted personnel at the Flying Parrot flight school in Córdoba, where instructors guided her through emergency procedures, leading to a safe landing. The director Eduardo Álvarez later found Bertazzo’s body about 15 minutes after the jump in a rural field near Córdoba. Prosecutors opened an investigation and seized the aircraft; reports cited mental health struggles previously unknown to the school.