Argentina student pilot lands plane alone after instructor jumps to his death mid-flight

The lesson had barely begun.

A flight instructor and his student had taken off from a flying school outside Córdoba for what was expected to be another routine training flight. Minutes later, the student found herself flying alone.

According to Argentine prosecutors, 42-year-old instructor Leandro Andrés Bertazzo removed his headset, unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the aircraft door while the Cessna was flying at about 850 feet.

He turned to his student one last time.

"You know what you have to do. Carry on."

Then he stepped out of the aircraft.

The 22-year-old trainee, identified only as Rosario, was left alone at the controls.

What followed is now at the centre of an investigation that has stunned Argentina's aviation community.

Rosario kept control of the aircraft long enough to bring it back to the airfield safely. After landing, she alerted emergency services and helped investigators identify the area where she believed her instructor had fallen. Bertazzo's body was later found near the town of Toledo in Córdoba province.

The incident happened on July 4, but prosecutors disclosed new details this week as the investigation continued. Authorities have not indicated that anyone else was involved, and no criminal charges have been filed. Investigators are focusing on reconstructing the instructor's final moments.

At Flying Parrot Córdoba, where Bertazzo worked as an instructor, colleagues said the tragedy came without warning.

School director Eduardo Álvarez told Argentine broadcaster TN that Bertazzo had completed another lesson earlier that day and had behaved normally. Nothing, he said, suggested the flight would end the way it did.

"He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side," Álvarez said, describing the incident as impossible to comprehend.

The instructor's family later revealed he had been struggling personally. His father told local media that Bertazzo had sought psychiatric treatment before his death, information colleagues said they had not known.

The case has drawn attention well beyond Argentina because of what happened after Bertazzo left the aircraft.

Student pilots are trained to respond to emergencies, from engine failures to difficult weather. They are not trained to expect the instructor beside them to disappear mid-flight.

Despite the shock, Rosario completed what became an unplanned solo landing, a decision that aviation professionals have described as remarkable under the circumstances.

Investigators continue to examine flight records, witness statements and evidence from the scene as they work to determine what led to one of the country's most unusual aviation tragedies.