Pilot survives 38 days in Amazon jungle after crash

Pilot survives 38 days in Amazon jungle after crash

Antonio Sena was flying a single-prop Cessna 210 over the Brazilian Amazon when the engine suddenly stopped, leaving him minutes to find a spot in the jungle to crash-land.

He survived with no injuries, but was stranded in the middle of the world's largest rainforest — the start of a 38-day trek he says taught him one of the biggest lessons of his life.

Sena, 36, was hired to fly a cargo run from the northern town of Alenquer to an illegal gold mine in the rainforest, known as the “California.”

Flying at an altitude of about 1,000 meters (3,000 feet), he knew when the engine stopped halfway there he would not have much time.

He managed to bring the plane over a valley, and landed as best he could.

Covered in gasoline, he grabbed whatever seemed useful — a backpack, three bottles of water, four soft drinks, a sack of bread, some rope, an emergency kit, a lantern and two lighters — and got out of the plane as fast as possible.

It exploded not long after.

That was January 28.

The first five days, he told AFP in an interview at his home