The Riddle of the Stinson

The Riddle of the Stinson is a 1987 Australian TV movie about the crash of the Stinson plane in Lamington, Queensland, Australia and the rescue of its survivors by local Queenslander Bernard OReilly Jack Thompson.

The Stinson, caught in the severe downdrafts from the top of the mountains, has crashed into a thickly forested valley in the McPherson Range. Both of the aircrew and two of the passengers were killed in the crash. Of the three surviving passengers, John Proud has a severely injured leg whilst the others, Joe Binstead and Englishman Jim Westray, have escaped unhurt. Westray volunteers to walk through the valley to get help and he tries to raise Prouds morale by pretending that a town is visible from a nearby lookout and that he will not have to venture far to raise the alarm. Binstead stays with Proud and he finds an intact thermos flask in the wreckage of the aircraft and carries it some distance down the slope to where he can fill it up at a small waterfall and take it back up to Proud, keeping him alive. But Binstead soon grows weak with hunger and fatigue and he cannot keep making trips to fetch water indefinitely.Ten days after the crash, OReilly, an experienced bushman with knowledge of the local weather conditions and the perilous downdrafts, hears a claim from a local who saw the Stinson pass low overhead, obviously struggling in the severe weather. OReilly ventures alone into the Range to try and locate the wreckage, not believing that he will find any one still alive. After treking for a day, he arrives at a crest above the valley and sees a small patch of brown amongst the trees on the opposite side. Although it would most likely be a small burnt area caused by a lightning strike, OReilly nonetheless struggles through the thick undergrowth of the valley floor to reach the location. He finds Proud and Binstead, cold and starved but alive. OReilly carries water to the two men, builds a fire and leaves all of his food and then begins the hike back to fetch help. En route, he discovers the corpse of Westray who had fallen on slippery rocks and had died of his injuries. OReilly makes it out of the valley and alerts the local community. He leads a large rescue

Source: Wikipedia