By 11:30 am, Owen had reoccupied Kokoda with a force consisting of B Company, the remaining PIB and members of the ANGAU that had joined Maroubra Force, variously numbered at between 80 and 148. Owen called for reinforcements and shortly after, two planes appeared overhead but did not land as the defenders were slow in removing the barricades that had been placed across the airstrip and the pilots believed the situation too risky to land. There are inconsistencies in the various accounts of this event—most significantly, whether this occurred on 28 July or the day earlier, when Owen was about to abandon Kokoda.