Three men spelt 'help' with palm leaves to get rescued off deserted island

Three men aboard a 19-ft skiff set off for a short sailing trip into the south Pacific. The weather grew rough, and the tiny ship was tossed into the sea on Monday night.

Stranded in the dark and their ship lost far from ground, the men could only swim.

Buoyed by life vests, they swam nearly two miles under a dark sky until they reached the long-deserted Fanadik, several hundred miles north of Papua New Guinea.

For three days they remained stranded on the remote island, praying for rescue.

Then, on Thursday morning, crew aboard a US navy plane zipping through the sky spotted three men waving fluorescent orange life vests. They stood next to piles of palm fronds that spelled: H-E-L-P.