City advisory firm manager William Carpmael, 46, his wife Anna, 48, and their two children Emily, 15, and George, 14, were on their way to visit the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza when their light aircraft began to lose altitude and came down on in a remote area of dense vegetation, around 10 miles from the nearest main road.
Dramatic local TV pictures showed the Mexican pilot, named locally as Francisco Alan Rodriguez, covered in blood with a bandage round his head.
But the passengers, all from London, were filmed walking away with no apparent injuries after rescuers reached them following a tense three-hour search.
Mr Carpmael, a Cambridge University graduate now living in London but originally from Hook, Wokingham, was even pictured smiling as he was led out of the jungle by rescue teams after his family’s dramatic escape.
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A British family have been rescued after their plane crashed into remote jungle in Mexico
We are all ok, thanks to our hero pilot Alan and our guardian angels
They were helicoptered away from the scene for a check-up but released soon afterwards.
Civil Protection boss Orlando Munoz confirmed the four passengers suffered only minor bumps and bruises.
The accident happened around 9.30am local time on Thursday shortly after the plane took off from an airstrip in the tourist resort of Playa del Carmen.
Local reports said it began to experience problems, thought to be the result of a mechanical failure, shortly after take-off.
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William Carpmael (pic) his wife Anna and their two children were rescued after a three hour search
Several teams of police, firefighters and paramedics were mobilised to try to locate the light aircraft, a Cessna 207 belonging to a firm called Aero Saab.
The plane, which came down around 10 miles from a quarry and port on the Quintana Roo coast of Mexico known as Calizas Industriales del Carmen, had broken in half on impact with the ground.
The pilot was today being hailed a hero for managing to keep his cool and save the lives of the British holidaymakers so he could crash-land in the safest place possible.
A spokesman for the town hall in Solidaridad, the municipality where the plane was found, said in a statement where the Brits and the pilot were identified only by their first names and surnames: “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).
“Civil Protection officials have confirmed the four passengers as well as the pilot were rescued following a search involving federal, state and municipal security and emergency workers.
“The pilot Francisco A.R was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries.
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The pilot is being hailed a hero for keeping his cool and saving the lives of the British family
“The four passengers from London, William C, aged 46, Anna C, aged 48, Emily C, aged 15, and George C, aged 14, were taken by ambulance to hospital so doctors could see them, although they didn’t appear to have any serious injuries.
“The light aircraft was a Cessna 207 belonging to the company Aero Saab and it was heading from Playa del Carmen to Chichen Itza.
“The cause of the accident is not yet known but it is believed to be down to a mechanical failure.”
Mr Carpmael, a former associate director at now defunct London-based investment bank SBC Warburg who studied mathematics at Jesus College, Cambridge, thanked his rescuers afterwards in tweets from his holiday destination.
He said: “We are all ok, thanks to our hero pilot Alan and our guardian angels. George has a couple of stitches but otherwise just bruises and sprains.
“Certainly ticked the adventure box but we are very lucky. Alan is also ok, but had a large head wound that we bandaged up. Back at hotel.”
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The accident happened around 9.30am local time on Thursday shortly after the plane took off
He added later: “Three hours stuck in jungle 7 miles from the main road. Rescued 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.”
Mr Carpmael describes himself on an internet profile as having more than 20 years experience working in the City of London.
He is now understood to work as a relationship manager at a wealth management advisory firm called The Route, which provides members with financial planning and estate, management and protection solutions as well as “sophisticated planning for all personal taxes.”
Chichen Itza is a complex of Mayan ruins on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. It was one of the largest Maya cities and is now one of the most visited archeological sites in Mexico with over two million tourists in 2016.