A BOURNEMOUTH man has spoken of his ordeal after surviving an aircraft crash in Venezuela.

Simon Whitlock, 25, was travelling alone on a 15-day tour of the South American country when his single-engined aircraft crashed into a swamp.

The five-seater plane, thought to be a Cessna, was on a flight to the Angel Falls - the world's largest waterfall.

But three minutes into the 40-minute flight, the tiny aircraft hit trouble.

Despite the loss of altitude, Simon didn't believe he was in danger.

"I suppose you could say I was blissfully ignorant," said Simon.

"I took a picture to show how close we were to the water and vegetation.

"The camera was damaged in the crash, but the picture survived," he added.

Simon was sitting in the rear of the aircraft and missed the pilot's frantic gestures to assume the crash position.

"There was an impact when we hit the vegetation. I hit my head and don't remember any more of the crash," he said.

The administrator was rushed to a nearby hospital in Ciudad Bolivar where he was treated for facial injuries.

"I was taken to a private clinic in Ciudad Bolivar.

"I had three stitches in my chin, and three inside my mouth," said Simon.

Two other passengers on the flight suffered more serious injuries, including broken limbs and cuts from the cockpit's shattered windscreen.

Hospital staff offered to telephone Simon's family in Ensbury Park, but the injured traveller refused.

"I didn't want to freak out my family. I phoned the following day and told them in a systematic way," said Simon.

Two days later, the plucky Brit climbed back aboard another tiny aircraft to make the flight over the spectacular waterfalls.

"Unfortunately it was cloudy, and I didn't get to see them," he said.

Simon had booked his trip to South America with the Student Travel Association in Old Christchurch Road.

"I made a six-month tour of Australia after leaving Bournemouth School for Boys about six years ago," Simon remembered.

Simon has also travelled to China, Thailand and Japan, and refuses to let his experience in Venezuela put him off travelling.

"I wouldn't dissuade anyone from travelling.

"You can't live your life in fear," he said.