Pilot dies one year after crash-landing and 2 weeks in jungle

A Brazilian pilot who survived in the Amazon jungle for two weeks after a plane crash last year has reportedly passed away following a second aerial accident, authorities confirmed. He was 38 years old.

The private pilot, named Otávio Augusto Munhoz da Silva, had reportedly been flying his aircraft along his usual route of Mucajaí, South of Roraima on August 28, Jam Press reported.

Disaster struck after the flyboy crashed in the city of Pacaraima, in a forested area, near the border of Venezuela.

Authorities were alerted to the crash from a police report filed by the victim’s sister on September 1, G1 reported.

Da Silva had been reported missing until that same Friday, when the Paraná native’s body was found. It had reportedly been underwater for five days, according to the man’s cousin Alexandre Munhoz, who said that the deceased’s mother Maria Lúcia Munhoz Silva was “suffering a lot” after learning of his loss.

The Civil Police of Roraima are currently probing the pilot’s death.

Prior to his passing, da Silva worked as an air taxi driver, ferrying passengers about in the region of Boa Vista, capital of Roraima, near where illegal miners infiltrate Yanomami native American territory, per G1.

The Brazilian’s death comes one year after the pilot crashed his plane in September 2022 and had to survive in dense jungle for 13 days.

Da Silva had reportedly been piloting a private jet, when the vessel overheated and the engine stopped working, CNN Brazil reported. The pilot attempted to land the aircraft in a nearby river but ended up getting stuck in the canopy of a tree.

He was subsequently forced to fend for himself for nearly two weeks, until the pilot, who was nearly at the end of his tether, found a jungle river and traced its course.

On September 27, Da Silva was spotted by a passing vessel and rescued while the aircraft was found two days later.

Despite the nail-biting ordeal, his mother Maria Lúcia Munhoz Silva was confident that her son “could survive.”

“I knew he would resist because he used to carry a bag with medicine and food,” she said. “But prayers sustained my son. I don’t even know how many people prayed for him. I’m relieved, very happy with this news.”

Da Silva returned to his pilot job not long after the fiasco.

The fallen flyboy will be buried in his hometown of Londrina, Paraná.