An Argentinian pilot jumped out of the door of a moving plane to his death on Saturday, forcing the student aboard to land the aircraft by herself, according to US reports.

A report from CNN affiliate TN on the bizarre incident indicated that the instructor, 42-year-old Leandro Andrés Bertazzo, was on board a Cessna 150 aircraft with a 22-year-old student named Rosario when he suddenly took off his headset and seatbelt.

He reportedly told the student, “You know what you have to do, carry on,” and proceeded to open the door and jump out of the aircraft.

A Tuesday statement from the country’s public prosecutor indicated Bertazzo’s body had been recovered after the incident, which took place in Toledo, central Argentina.

A director of the Flying Parrot Córdoba flying school, Eduardo Álvarez, where Bertazzo worked, told TN that the pilot had exhibited no signs that he might be considering suicide and had even successfully completed a flight with a different student earlier that day, Álvarez said.

“He made this tragic decision on board an aircraft with another person by his side,” he said. “It’s impossible to think about it or understand it, but the human mind is so complex.”

Álvarez described him as “a beautiful person with a great smile,” expressing surprise about the incident.

The flight school head explained that opening the planes door would have been a herculean task, comparing it to trying to open the door of a car traveling at 200 kilometres an hour.

Despite the midair shock, Rosario managed to land the plane safely with no damage.