Link: https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/student-pilot-successfully-lands-plane-after-instructor-jumps-to-death-mid-flight-3384506/

Flight instructor: "Do your best, lol."

During the flight, Bertazzo allegedly told Rosario, “You know what to do” before removing his headset, arranging his belongings, taking off his seatbelt and exiting the aircraft.

Importantly, the article also says she was trained, but still needed some hours with an instructor or pilot before being allowed to fly solo. He must have decided his other student that day wasn't ready but felt she'd be safe without him. Better than some suicidal pilots who have crashed the whole plane.

Is the thumbnail photo of the instructor who killed himself?

She

She had a private licence, so she was more than capable of flying solo.

Did you actually read the article?

Yes, it is.

She was a qualified private pilot, so easily capable of landing the plane unassisted.

What a bizarre thing to do.

During the flight, Bertazzo allegedly told Rosario, “You know what to do” before removing his headset, arranging his belongings, taking off his seatbelt and exiting the aircraft.

Instructor: (Encouragingly) "If you can handle this, Rosario, it'll all get easier from here on out. The most stressful moments are when you're just learning."

Student: "Thanks, but I'm sure that..."

Instructor: dives out plane door

Student: ...

Good way to fake your death and ensure your student gets famous. Win-win.

That seems so morbid when the article is more focused on the student than the pilot.

What a selfish shitty thing to do to someone

'Fuck me, you're a bad pilot. I'm going to take my chances out there'.

"They expect one of us in the wreckage, brother. The fire rises."

Landings are pretty much your first focus after basic air work, and you can solo in 15-20 hours typically. A full license is around 80 hours (at least here in Canada), and she had a ppl already.

When i soloed my instructor was kind enough to get out of the plane while we were on the ground. What a horrible experience for this student.

That's kinda strange. The process I'm familiar with, you get your student pilot license during training, then you get an endorsement from your instructor to solo. After you've had sufficient instructional and solo time, you take your practical test / check ride, and get your private license.

Maybe this was a requirement of the flight school rather than a licensing requirement? Maybe she got her private license in gliders or balloons, and wasn't yet qualified to solo a powered aircraft?

I uhh, presume he landed somewhere?

Edit: my point is more about where

As it should be. Fuck that guy for traumatizing that poor unsuspecting person.

Well he didn't float away.

could be getting an instrument rating or checked out on an unfamiliar aircraft.

Having a private license does not imply she was qualified to solo the aircraft she was in. If her private license was for hot air balloons or gliders, for example, her private license alone would not qualify her to solo a powered aircraft. Assuming Argentina's process is comparable to the US process, she would need a solo endorsement from a qualified instructor in her logbook before she would be considered capable of flying solo.

It's similar to people who end themselves by stepping in front of a truck or a train. It can be extremely traumatic to the driver.

Also she already had her private license, she was building up flight hours to be able to fly solo.

I disagree. Leaving someone with trauma, versus leaving someone in a life or death situation is quite different I'd say.

“She was very shaken, but with complete professionalism she flew the plane to the airfield and made a perfect landing,”

Dude may have been having a rough time, but definitely knew his students.

The similarity is involving people in the act and leaving them to deal with extreme trauma.

If the student had a PPL, it's likely she was training with him (a commercial pilot) for her IL instrument license, the next step up from PPL. Means she was qualified to land in clear weather.

He wasn't putting her in physical peril. But it's still a terrible mental burden to put on someone else.

It's a Cessna, a child could fly one.

And it's probably the type she got her license in.

Journalists know jack shit about aviation, chances are she was able to fly solo, but was working with an instructor to move towards a CPL. I did plenty of time with an instructor after getting my PPL.

There's a 70% chance he ocean'd!

Agreed, but the article did expressly point out that she was required to have an instructor or a safety pilot, and that she was not actually qualified to solo in that aircraft.

I have a private license. I am certainly not "more than capable of flying solo" in a Cessna 150: I am rated to fly hot air balloons. I am reasonably confident I could get a Cessna 150 on the ground safely, but that confidence alone does not make me "more than capable" of doing so.

And it’s probably the type she got her license in.

Based on the claims in the article, that is very unlikely. If she got her private license in it, she would be qualified to solo. But they explicitly claimed that she was not. It is likely that she is qualified in some other single-engine fixed-wing aircraft and just needs to be checked out in the 150. But the article does not specify, and we should not assume.

If Argentina's licensing structure mirrors the US, she might have a private license in "weight-shift-control aircraft". She might be qualified to hang glide with a passenger, but that license would not make her "more than capable" of soloing in a 150.

I suspect you're right. I'm in that process myself, but with balloons.

Are we sure she didn't kick him out? Seems very sus

"According to reports, 22-year-old student pilot named Rosario already had a private pilot license but was still building up her flying hours, meaning she was required to fly with an instructor or safety pilot."

Probably instrument rating

Student:

Ah, a regular article for the "entertainment" category.

In the future, its usually a good idea to read the article before chiming in.

Categorized as "entertainment".

You never know how someone will react to something traumatizing like that. She could have had a panic attack and passed out.

According to other people in this thread, she had at least enough flight experience that she should be able to land solo. So, the risk to her was from the trauma he inflicted, if it impeded her ability to land safely. Explaining it here actually makes it seem even more similar to the truck driver. It's entirely possible that if you hit a person with a truck, you'd freeze up or your mind would blank or you'd otherwise be unable to control yourself well and cause further accidents before you could stop safely.

Now you’re thinking like an airport book author!

Bizarre but it has a certain insane logic. He wanted to die by jumping out of a plane but he didn't want the plane to crash and kill anyone, cause a fire or whatever. He even told her "you know what to do" to give her confidence.

I mean, if I were an immortal, I would get a job as a flight instructor just to pull this prank.

Don't worry. I think the ground punished him enough.

No. He's still up there.

I wonder where the instructor landed.

Or a cop.

Fame and life long anxiety. But fame is awesome specially without the money that usually comes with it..

It's like siths' rule of two, except 740,000.