New Details Emerge After Pilot Jumped From Plane Mid-Flight, Forcing Student to Perform ‘Perfect’ Landing

More details are coming to light about Leandro Bertazzo, the 42-year-old pilot who jumped to his death from a plane mid-flight while giving a lesson to a younger student.

Bertazzo made headlines on Wednesday, July 8, when it was revealed that he jumped out of a Cessna C-150 on Saturday, July 4, telling the young student with him: “You know what to do, keep moving forward.”

He was found deceased in a field 20 minutes later.

Now, Bertazzo’s father is speaking out, telling Eduardo Alvarez, the director of the flight flying school where Bertazzo worked, that he was going through “a difficult time,” per the Daily Mail.

Just one week prior to his death, Bertazzo went to a consultation at a psychiatric hospital, his family has shared, per the report.

At the time of his death, Bertazzo was living with his parents in Cordoba, Argentina. He was not married and did not have any children, per Daily Mail, citing Argentinian outlet Para Ti.

Alvarez reflected on the kind of person Bertazzo was, calling his employee “an excellent professional, always cheerful and greatly admired by all his students.”

The flight school director went on to say Bertazzo was a “wonderful person, with a great smile and a clear outlook on life.”

Bertazzo’s boss explained that just moments before his death, 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.”

Meanwhile, the student pilot sent a message to the crew below and “proceeded to return to the runway to land.”

The female student is said to have been “very shaken” after the incident, but maintained “complete professionalism.” Alvarez added that her landing was “perfect.”

“She maintained a very high level of training and professionalism,” he added.

Bertazzo’s boss is still trying to make sense of the tragedy.

“He took this tragic decision on board a plane with a person by his side,” he said, adding, “There’s no way to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex, so treacherous. That’s why what happened, happened.”

Before the fatal flight, Bertazzo had already taken another student out for a lesson.

Investigators are still looking into the plane and the flight’s documentation to rule out any mechanical issues, per the report.