Argentina Pilot, 42, Jumped From Cessna After Secret Psychiatric Treatment

Q: He was a cheerful professional applying for his dream job. What secret drove him to leap from his plane?

No one publicly knows what drove Leandro Andrés Bertazzo to jump. The evidence so far points to an intentional act, but not to a confirmed motive. What is established is stark: during a lesson in a Cessna 150 near Toledo, Argentina, Bertazzo told his 22-year-old student, Rosario, “You know what you have to do, carry on,” then removed his headset and seatbelt, opened the door, and leapt from the aircraft at roughly 250 meters. Rosario, though in shock, radioed for help and landed safely. The mystery is sharpened by how he was seen by others. Colleagues and the director of Flying Parrot Córdoba described him as cheerful, professional and highly experienced, with no obvious warning signs. He had worked at the school for years, had flown another lesson earlier that day without incident, and was reportedly applying to a major airline job he wanted badly. He had also passed routine physical and mental health checks. But there are hints that his private life may have been very different from his public image. His father said he had been “going through a rough patch,” and local reports said he had received neuropsychiatric treatment known only to close relatives. That suggests possible hidden mental-health struggles, though authorities have not confirmed any diagnosis or linked it directly to his death. Prosecutors are investigating the precise circumstances. Until that inquiry produces evidence, any claim about a specific “secret” would be speculation.

3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Jul 9

Leandro Bertazzo, 42, had been undergoing undisclosed psychiatric treatment before he jumped from a two-seat Cessna 150 during a July 4 lesson over Córdoba province, his family told the flight school.
Days earlier, Bertazzo had visited a psychiatric hospital and was going through “a bad time,” school head Eduardo Álvarez said, adding colleagues were unaware despite rules requiring lessons to stop if a pilot has a compromising condition.
The instructor reportedly stowed his phone, unclipped his seatbelt, opened the door and told his 22-year-old student, “You know what you have to do,” before she flew back and landed safely at Coronel Olmedo Airport.
Investigators later found Bertazzo’s body in a nearby field and are reviewing the aircraft’s paperwork, school records and in-flight communications, including whether a door or safety-system problem played any role.
The case remains highly unusual for Argentine authorities because Bertazzo had already completed another training flight that day and officials still cannot fully explain how the incident unfolded.