Small plane down in the Everglades

Collier County, Florida – On Tuesday 2 people landed in a remote area of the Florida Everglades after the engine of their small plane failed.

Jose Ecarri says he and his pilot friend were flying from Tamiami to Arcadia to grab get tacos when the engine of their plane stopped working  and they landed in a remote area of the Florida Everglades — miraculously unscathed.

“We were like 2,000 feet and we had an engine failure,” said Ecarri, 21. “We looked at each other and we were like, ’We’re alive.’ This doesn’t happen very often.”

The men were rescued near Mile Marker 55 of I-75 as they were seen walking around the plane on the ground.

According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Ecarri  and his friend were picked up with helicopter one at a time using a harness.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the single-engine Piper PA-32 “made a forced landing on a highway in the Everglades, approximately 20 miles north of Ochopee, Fla., around 9:50 a.m.”

“We were going down and we were trying to reach I-75 but we couldn’t make it,” Ecarri said.

Later Fire rescue took the pilot back to Tamiami and brought Ecarri to a nearby fire control station where he reunited with his mother.

“Not a good day to get tacos,” Ecarri joked, though he and his mother said they still planned to get tacos later Tuesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration will continue to investigate.