Wilson Avila, director of the Beni Regional Emergency Operations Centre, said everyone on board (three women, children and a 29-year-old pilot) was rescued from perch above the plane, which was capsized in “excellent condition.”
The single-engine aircraft flew from the town of Base to the north-central city of Trinidad, about 180 kilometers (112 miles).
29-year-old pilot Andre Verardo told local media from his hospital bed that the plane began to lose altitude and was forced to make an emergency landing in a swamp near the lagoon.
The five were “surrounded by crocodiles who came within 3 metres of us,” Verardo added that leaking kerosene from the plane could have prevented predators. He also said they saw an anaconda in the muddy waters.
For the food they survived with local cassava flour brought by one of the passengers.
“We couldn’t drink water and we couldn’t go anywhere else because of the crocodile,” Verardo said.
The group was found by a local fisherman before being rescued and taken to hospital.
Air taxis are commonly used in the Beni area due to lack of paved roads and poor condition of existing roads.
rhm/