With no boats in sight, they swam for a distant beach in the 44-degree water, which is easily cold enough to bring on the effects of hypothermia within 30 minutes. Gardner became fatigued quickly as he attempted to use a freestyle swim stroke in the water and considered swimming back to the plane, which remained afloat for several minutes; the brothers suggested that he use a slow, methodical backstroke.

"I would take 100 strokes and then look (at the beach)," he said. "Then I'd take another 100 strokes and look. Sometimes I'd cheat and look after 20 strokes. I kept having this surreal feeling — this can't be happening again."

Gardner, who estimates they swam for one or two hours, arrived at the beach well after the brothers.

"I had no feeling in my body," he said. "Everything was numb."

He searched the area and found the brothers snuggled for warmth. He suggested they stand up and move to a spot in the sunlight to dry their clothes. It was about 4:30 p.m.

They saw a couple of boats that evening, but they were too far away. At one point, Leslie said to Gardner, "You've been here before. We're going to make it, aren't we?" He assured them they would.

The brothers, soaked and wearing only T-shirts and jeans in temperatures that dropped into the mid-20s, slept on top of each other, and Gardner pushed up against them for warmth.

"I was blocking the wind," he said.

The next morning they were spotted by fishermen in a passing boat. They gave their own coats and hats to the castaways and put Gardner in the middle of the boat. They were eventually ferried to the Bullfrog Marina by park rangers and then retired to a houseboat to clean up and rest. Gardner never did go to the hospital. Later they flew to Spanish Fork, with a stopover in Fillmore because of poor weather.

By Monday morning, Gardner was in his home, fielding calls from the national TV and radio networks. He is scheduled to appear on "Good Morning, America" and the "CBS Morning Show."

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it is investigating the crash.

"We're just now starting to get to the point where we can get some interviews and gather some data," said Jim Struhsaker, a senior air-safety investigator with the NTSB.

Preliminary interviews have been conducted with some of the men involved in the crash, he added.

The Cirrus SR22 has not yet been found, the National Park Service said Monday.

"It sank underwater," said Kevin Schneider, a spokesman for the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. "It's probably in about 200 feet of water."