Moment five people stranded for 36 hours on plane in alligator-infested swamp rescued
Five people, including a child, who spent 36 hours days atop a plane stranded in an alligator-infested swamp in the Amazon have been rescued.
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The plane had been forced to make an emergency crash-landing following an engine failure just an hours after takeoff, leaving all passengers on the flight stuck in the swamp for days.
Three women, a child and the 29-year-old pilot were among those on board.
Andres Velarde, the pilot, said he was forced to make an emergency landing in the swamp at the edge of a lagoon near the Itanomas River after losing altitude.
Read more: Seven dead in horror tour bus crash in Yellowstone national park
Man, talk about a narrow escape!
— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) May 3, 2025
"Five people in Bolivia have been rescued after spending 36 hours on top of a plane in an alligator-infested swamp in the Amazon after it was forced to make an emergency landing, local authorities said."pic.twitter.com/NnQwmh5EQg
The group were swarmed by alligators that allegedly came within three metres of them, he said.
They also reportedly spotted an anaconda in the water.
Fuel leaking from the plane likely kept the reptiles a safe distance away, according to the pilot.
They are understood to have survived on a diet of local cassava flour that one of the passengers had brought with them.
The group couldn't leave the top of the plane or drink any water due to the lethal prospect of entering the reptile-infested waters, reporters were told.
Fishermen in Bolivia’s Amazon region found the small plane on Friday.
The group was taken to hospital via helicopter and is said to be in "excellent condition" despite the traumatic experience.
Local authorities said speculation was rampant following the plane's disappearance, with officials relieved "theories" have been put to rest.