It has the incredible experience lived by Antonio Sena, 36, who survived the crash of his Cessna 210 in the heart of the Amazon. It might seem like a movie script, but it’s pure reality. Leaving from Alenquer, in the state of Parà, last January 28, directed to an illegal mine in the Maicuru reserve, in Brazil, after only forty minutes of flight, he begins to have problems with the single engine of the small propeller plane he was flying. At that moment he was flying 900 meters above the Amazon. In a few moments the engine stops, Antonio loses control of the aircraft and crashes to the ground. Here begins his impossible feat.
The plane had a highly flammable cargo (it was carrying diesel), in fact it burned down shortly after he left the vehicle. So, not only does Antonio remain unharmed from an accident that could have cost him his life, but he manages to survive for 36 days in the depths of the Amazon rainforest. “The first night was terrible. The forest was full of noises, completely dark »- he told al New York Times -. There were many difficult moments: the pain from insect bites, the cold, the hunger. In those days I understood for the first time in my life what it really means to be “hungry”. Only the thought of my family and faith in God supported me ».
The pilot initially decides to camp near the remains of the Cessna to be more easily spotted. But the forest is lush and he soon realizes that they would not have been able to find him from above: “The rescuers flew over me – he says now – but they couldn’t see me”. Abandoned hopes, start walking aimlessly, getting lost in the womb of nature.
He travels during the early hours of the morning in fear of encountering jaguars, which he believes the forest is haunted. He crosses swamps, improvises shelters «with palm trees and sororoca leaves to protect me from the rain», sleeping away from the water, «because it is the hunting reserve of predators». He is besieged by packs of spider monkeys who try to destroy his precarious shelters. And learn to feed by observing the monkeys. «Three times I ate inambu bird eggs – he says -, for the rest of breu fruit. The monkeys did it, I could do it too. ‘ He drinks rainwater, he can lose 25 kilos, but in the end he saves himself.
On the 36th day of walking, when his strength is starting to fail, he comes across some nut pickers who have not frequented that part of the forest for three years. Leading the group is a woman, Maria Jorge dos Santos Tavares, 67, who lost her husband to Covid and, for economic reasons, has begun to scour the forest right where the pilot is. A sort of Robinson Crusoe appears in front of her and the others, an exhausted but alive man.
Antonio was saved in this way. A miracle? Maybe. Most likely his story will become a film, he will tell it in a book. For now it is immortalized in a photograph that the rider posted on his Instagram profile, once he returned home, last March 6: «This is Dona Maria Jorge and her incredible family, who welcomed me with great affection. We will meet again soon! I love you!”. “Now she is my second mother,” he comments with emotion.