Well, Ian... ahhhh... that certainly is an interesting.... ummm.....ahhh... post. As Ric pointed out, and as I said when I originally threw this thread up in the wind, I was hoping that speculation as to what may have happened after the landing would generate some good old fashioned skull sweat. Maybe take folks down avenues they may not have thought of before in trying to identify areas where our intrepid duo may have camped, wandered or searched. Your ahhh.... story is certainly entertaining but do you really think what you posted could have happened? If I may point out a couple of things. Have you ever worked around any machinery designed and built in the last century? Usually, machinery (Cars, toasters, pogo-sticks, Airplanes) tended to be more robust in construction than things you see today. I believe the current theory is that they made a good landing on the reef. I tend to think that they bent the plane somewhat, but I have nothing to prove that , just a gut instinct. If they were injured, I don't believe they could have salvaged the bird to the extent you postulate. So what would they have done Ian? it's 110 f. they are banged up, most probably in shock, the plane is banged up and the radio may work, but you cant even be sure it is doing anything. As for marks in the sand.... Ric told me there is NO sand on Niku, what you see is coral rubble... still wanna run your toezies thru the sand? You have a good imagination, study the information you find here, then just like a detective, put two and two together, look over your post and then revise what you wrote to reflect what you have learned from your study. This was actually meant to be a somewhat serious discussion. Oh, and Ian..... Welcome to the forum
Brad