What do the boys surmise about the fate of the plane and the other passengers?

It is surmised that the plane caught fire and crashed before pulled back out into the ocean. The adults and some of the other pasengers are believed to be dead.

“When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows. I saw the other part of the plane. There were flames coming out of it.” He looked up and down the scar. “And this is what the cabin done.” The fair boy reached out and touched the jagged end of a trunk. For a moment he looked interested. “What happened to it?” he asked. “Where’s it got to now?” “That storm dragged it out to sea.