There was no doubt about it now: their plane was going down. Their captain had just told them so. And there was no guarantee they would all survive the fall.

Twin sisters Jenny and Rachael were on the plane with their parents, an uncle and two aunties, as well as three cousins. They were all flying to Hawaii to attend the wedding of Uncle Bob, who had been living there for the last five years. It had been an incredibly long flight, but now they were less than two hours away from their destination.

The trouble had started suddenly. The plane had shuddered as if it was shivering from cold, then dropped in the sky for a second – no more than a plane might in bad turbulence, but enough to get a few gasps and screams out of some of the sixty two passengers on the flight. Then, a few seconds later, the plane dropped again, but this time took three full seconds to recover. This time almost all the passengers cried out and the children began to cry, understandably scared. It felt like they were on a rollercoaster ride, but no-one was having fun. The captain’s voice came over the plane’s speakers, informing them that one of the plane’s engines was malfunctioning and they were going to have to make an emergency landing in the sea below them. There was no time for the passengers to grab life jackets or make any other preparations, this was happening now. Everyone tightened their seat belts and braced themselves for the impact.

The plane’s captain, William Burke, had been a pilot for over twenty years, and though he had never landed a plane on water before, he had done it in simulations hundreds of times and knew just what to do. The plane hit the water at just the right angle, but for the passengers the feeling of the impact was close to indescribable. Terrifying and uncomfortable in the extreme… but when the plane came to a stop, amazingly no-one was seriously injured.

The plane’s crew acted quickly to get everybody into life jackets and off the boat before it could sink completely. But the sea water was absolutely freezing. Just when their prospects were looking grim, Jenny noticed something, far off on the horizon. It looked like… land! Captain Burke had joined the passengers by this point and looked to where Jenny was pointing. He had not seen any land from the air, so knew this could only be a small, uncharted island that was most likely uninhabited. Still, land was land, so he began to co-ordinate their efforts to get to it safely but quickly.

How will all the passengers all get to shore? Remember that some passengers might not be strong swimmers.

If they get to shore, what will the island look like?

Once there, what do the passengers need to do first to get give themselves the best chance at survival?