The expedition was to climb up Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Malaysia, and descend down the steep cliff faces on the other side into Low's Gully and then trek through the valley.
The enquiry is to determine which members were at fault for the failure of the expedition, meaning that the story is told in flashback as the men remember it.
Lance Corporal Richard Mayfield (Dougray Scott), who is also the technical advisor on the expedition, expresses serious concern about the group's ability as a whole.
Sergeant Bob Mann (Ralph Brown) suggests that the fitter members of the team continue on with the expedition as planned while the weaker members climb back down the mountain, drive to a village at the other end of the valley and work their way back up the river as a support group.
He explains that the rear party, now consisting of the supposed leaders of the expedition and three inexperienced Chinese soldiers, have already set up camp further down the mountain.
As the senior NCO, Brittan decides that if Mayfield wishes to abseil without the rear party, then they shouldn't wait.
However, Lance Corporal Yiu Keung 'Kevin' Cheung had been secretly conserving food in case of an emergency and gave some to Neill and Fostor.
After ensuring that Shearer (who had also sustained an injury from a leech around his eye) was in hospital, Brittan and Page arrived at the hotel only to find that nobody else had booked in.
Having recorded most of the ordeal on his video camera, he makes a goodbye message to his son Robert (he had previously named a waterfall after him) in a very emotional scene.
An elderly woman treats Mann's infected wound with a traditional herbal medicine which appears to completely and instantly cure it.
Brittan remembered that Neill had planned to stay close to the river throughout the expedition and advised the search and rescue teams of this.
Back in the present, Neill openly accuses Brittan and Mayfield of condemning him to a "slow death by starvation".
Brittan stated that he made the right decision but for the wrong reasons: had he waited for them they'd all have become trapped and no one would have looked for them, resulting in all their deaths.