Flight instructor who jumped out of a plane in Argentina: opening the door in the air is a trained maneuver, says expert

Flight instructor throws himself out of a plane in mid-air in Argentina; student manages to land
The story of the flight instructor who threw himself into the air in the province of Córdoba shocked Argentina.
Leandro Bertazzo, aged 42, was accompanying a student on a training flight when he jumped from an estimated altitude of 250 meters. Her body was found in a rural area.
The student, whose name was not released, already had a pilot's license, but had only a few hours of flight time in the model involved, a Cessna 150. She asked for help from the control tower and managed to land normally.
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"Leandro took off his headphones, put his cell phone aside and opened the door - something very difficult to do due to the air pressure", said Eduardo Alvarez, director of the Flying Parrot Córdoba school, told the Argentine newspaper "Clarín".
Leandro Bertazzo, flight instructor who jumped from a plane in Argentina
Reproduction: Social Networks
Raul Marinho, technical director of the Brazilian General Aviation Association (Abag), reports that opening the door of a Cessna 150 in mid-air is not only possible, but a procedure trained by pilots and students.
"The Cessna 150 is a very small and very slow aircraft", says Marinho, who trained as a pilot in the same model. "Its stall speed (minimum speed to remain flying) is around 42 knots, or 88 km/h."
He compares the act of opening the aircraft door in flight with opening the door of a car on the road - it's not something easy to do, but it's not impossible either. The comparison is valid, explains Marinho, when the aircraft is flying at low altitude, and the air pressure outside the cabin is practically the same as the air pressure on the ground.
"I don't know what it's like now, but when I did the training we learned to do this maneuver. You had to put your foot on the door and push", says Marinho.
The pilot explains that the maneuver was taught for emergencies, in case the aircraft did not respond to the pilot's commands due to cables breaking, for example. When opening the cabin door, aerodynamic resistance is created capable of making the Cessna 150 perform curves.
Mental health
Leandro Bertazzo had sought psychiatric care, but had not communicated this to the flight school.
The fact was only known to his family. His father told the Argentine press that the pilot "was going through a difficult time".
On the day of the incident, the instructor's behavior did not arouse suspicion from his colleagues.
Marinho explains that "mental health is taboo in all areas, but a much greater taboo in aviation."
"Mental health issues can lead a pilot to lose their medical certificate, which leaves them unable to fly", warns the technical director of Abag, which defends awareness initiatives on the subject in the area.

Source: G1

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