Bolivia - Five people crashed a plane into the Amazon jungle on Wednesday – right into the middle of an alligator nest. Thanks to a lightning-quick pilot and a bit of luck, they survived almost unscathed.

As CNN reports, the small plane took off on Wednesday morning from the municipality of Baures in northern Bolivia and was heading for Trinidad.

However, an hour after take-off, the pilot reported technical problems and contact with the plane was lost.

Pablo Andrés Velarde was able to make an emergency landing with the plane and its four occupants – three women and a child – but where the plane came down was not exactly ideal.

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"We fell into a swamp, and right next to it, there was an alligator nest," the 27-year-old pilot told local media.

Even though the group was directly at the mercy of the animals, they were not attacked by the alligators.

Velarde suspects that the spilled fuel from the plane had polluted the surrounding water, and the creatures were scared off by the acrid stench.

Meanwhile, the Bolivian Ministry of Defense organized a search operation for the victims, but this was hampered by "adverse weather conditions" during the first 48 hours. Several planes flew over the stranded crew without discovering them.

Thanks to the pilot's clever idea, they managed to stay afloat for two days and survived by eating chocolate, which he had salvaged from the doomed plane.

On Friday morning, the group was discovered by fishermen, and the Ministry of Defense rescued the five people with a helicopter and flew them to Trinidad.