A British family had a lucky escape after the light aircraft they were in crashed into the Mexican jungle.
William Carpmael, 46, his wife Anna, 48, and their two children, Emily 15, and George, 14, escaped with only cuts and bruises after the accident while they were on a trip to ancient Mayan ruins.
The Cessna 207 broke in half on impact and the family were stranded in the jungle for three hours on Thursday with pilot Francisco Alan Rodriguez before they were found by search crews.
Mr Carpmael, an investment manager with London-based “wealth club” The Route according to his LinkedIn page, praised Mr Rodriguez for saving their lives in a series of tweets.
He posted on December 21: “We are all okay, thanks to our hero pilot Alan and our guardian angels. George has a couple of stitches but otherwise just bruises and sprains.
“Certainly ticked all the adventure boxes but we are very lucky. Alan is also ok, but had a large head wound that we bandaged up. Back @ hotel.”
A few hours later he tweeted: “Three hours stuck in jungle 7 miles from the main road. Rescues by search planes, helicopter spotter, army, air force, national, state and tourist police and Bomberos fire brigade.
“Excellent hospital in Playa del Carmen. Thank you everyone who helped.”
The aircraft had taken off from the tourist resort of Playa del Carmen headed to the famous temples of Chichen Itza, according to a statement from the town hall of Solidaridad in the state of Quintana Roo.
It said the occupants had been taken to hospital but did not have any serious injuries.
The craft came down at around 9.20am local time and local reports said it had been experiencing problems thought to be the result of a mechanical failure shortly after take off.
The statement said: “Solidaridad Town Hall can confirm that five people have been rescued alive following the accident that occurred on Thursday morning in the south of the municipality, in which a light aircraft crashed in the jungle more than nine miles from Calizas Industriales del Carmen (CALICA).”
It concluded: “So far the cause of the accident is unknown but it is presumed that it was due to mechanical failure.”