Terrifying 36-hour ordeal as survivors cling onto side of plane after crash landing in alligator-infested swamp

By TARYN PEDLER

Published: 10:00 BST, 4 May 2025 | Updated: 10:21 BST, 4 May 2025

Five people were rescued after spending 36 hours on top of a plane in an alligator-infested swamp after it was forced to make an emergency landing.

The small plane was discovered by local fishermen in Bolivia’s Amazonas region on Friday after it had been missing for 48 hours.

Three women, a child, and the pilot, 29, were rescued from the ordeal in ‘excellent’ condition, Wilson Avila, director of the Beni Department’s emergency operations centre, said.

Terrifying footage of the rescue operation showed the group of five huddled on top of the sinking plane as emergency service personnel pulled them off.

According to local authorities, the swamp was surrounded by alligators, giving the survivors little-to-no opportunity of saving themselves.

The search and rescue operation was launched on Thursday after the plane had disappeared from the radar of the Beni Department in central Bolivia.

The pilot told local media that an engine failure had forced the plane to make an emergency landing near the Itanomas River during a flight from Baures in northern Bolivia to the city of Trinidad.

Andres Velarde recalled the plane suddenly beginning to lose altitude which sparked his decision to land the aircraft in a nearby swamp.

Three women, a child, and the pilot, 29, were rescued from the ordeal in ‘excellent’ condition

Terrifying footage of the rescue operation showed the group of five huddled on top of the sinking plane as emergency service personnel pulled them off

After fishermen stumbled across the aircraft, a helicopter was sent to transport the survivors to hospital

The five that had been on board stood squashed on top of the plane and were ‘surrounded by alligators that came within three metres of us’.

Velarde added that he believed the predators were kept away from the group thanks to petrol leaking from the bay.

They had also spotted an anaconda in the water, he said. 

While they desperately awaited rescue, the group of five ate local cassava flour that one of the passengers had luckily packed.

‘We couldn’t drink water and we couldn’t go anywhere else because of the alligators,’ Velarde said.

Caimans, a relative of alligators, are native to Central and South America and inhabit marshes, swamps, lakes, and mangrove rivers.

After fishermen stumbled across the aircraft, a helicopter was sent to transport the survivors to hospital.

Ruben Torres, Director of the Beni Region Health Department, said that there had been ‘a lot of speculation about the case’ and ‘many theories’ after the plane went missing.

‘I am really happy because in the end all the institutions joined together to be able to find the missing people and save those lives,’ he told Reuters.

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Terrifying 36-hour ordeal as survivors cling onto side of plane after crash landing in alligator-infested swamp

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