the last radio log received by Itasca they were still in the air, but soon after the engines stalled cos ov no fuel so on gliding to land on gardener if there plane were to flip then any dregs left in tank would be enuff to rotate engine enuff to send mayday,
i only ask cos if they were going down an engines were running, there would surely be mayday calls heard or logged an i have not come across any yet ?
Post loss messages show (if in fact they are actually from the Electra) that they were able to run the engines as they needed to run the right hand engine to be able to use the radio which would more then likely indicate that they landed the Electra intact.
That is not to say that there were no mayday calls, just that they were not received until the post loss messages after landing on Gardner. They were obviously experiencing some type of radio problems on the flight to Howland and perhaps it got worse (i.e., was no longer transmitting either). This would not be the first time that they experiencied radio problems and gonna use that 'bad word" but they "could of" found a radio problem such as another blown fuse and fixed it once they landed thus restoring their ability to at least transmit again.
Put yourself in that situation. If your engines are running and you are looking for a place to land, is their actually a May Day? Sure your low on fuel but not out and because your not sure where you are on the North/South line, for all you know you may be way North of Howland and still end up flying right over it. If not, then you are on track to find an alternate landing location (Phoenix Island Group). After landing, you assess the situation and send out the post loss messages in hopes of rescue. Not so sure I, in that situation, would have bothered continuing to broadcast in flight as I have not gotten responses so I am not sure the radio is even working.
Lastly, and I am no expert on the Electra and know I will be corrected if wrong, but doubt seriously that they would be able to run the Electra engine while upside down on the reef.
LTM,
Don