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A flight instructor committed suicide by jumping from a small plane over Argentina, forcing the student pilot he was teaching to land the plane himself.
Leandro Andres Burtazzo, 42, was aboard a two-seat Cessna 150G on Saturday when he decided to fly out of Cordoba province, according to CNN, which cited its Argentine affiliate TN.
“He made this tragic decision in a plane that had another person with him,” Eduardo Alvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Córdoba flying school where Bertazo worked, told TN. “It’s impossible to think about or understand, but the human mind is very complex.”
An undated photo of 42-year-old pilot Leandro Andrés Burtazzo, who committed suicide by jumping from a plane in Argentina on Saturday, July 4. (Instagram/Leandro Bertazzo)
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According to Alvarez, Rosario, a 22-year-old student, later told authorities that Bertazzo told her, “You know what you have to do, go ahead” before taking off his gear, opening the door, and jumping out.
Opening an airplane door in the air is incredibly difficult. Alvarez said it would be like trying to open the door of a car going 124 miles per hour.
Cessna FRA150M flying 150 meters with flaps deployed and climbing with hills behind. (aviation-images.com/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Alvarez said Rosario managed to land the plane safely despite being “in complete shock”. According to TN, there was no damage to the plane.
Alvarez noted that Bertazzo had gone on a flight with another student earlier in the day.
A view from the main street of Bertazo, the flight school that serves Flying Parrot Córdoba. (Google Maps)
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Alvarez also told TN that Bertazzo had visited a psychiatric institution, which only her family knew about before her death.
Prosecutors in Cordoba will lead the investigation into Bertazzo’s death. The plane from which he jumped is now in police custody.
