Jungle Jim has flown down to South America in his private plane. They're heading for the O'Reilly ranch to investigate a mystery in which Ramon's father seems to be deeply involved. The adventurers were not far from the ranch when they ran into a tropical tornado, which damaged their plane severely - so badly in fact - that Jim has ordered his companions to bail out with the only three parachutes available, leaving him to land the plane as best he can!