On Wednesday, 24 Nov 1971, J. R. Meade, posing as “D. B. Cooper,” hijacks an airplane, demands a ransom of $200,000 plus four parachutes, skydives from the plane’s rear hatch and disappears into the Washington state forest below. When the plane lands, Bill Gruen, the airline’s insurance investigator, searches the plane, noticing Cooper’s “bomb,” which turns out to be fake, and freeing Denise, a flight attendant, locked in the bathroom. Gruen learns that “Cooper” wore a bracelet identical to Gruen’s, and the former sergeant surmises the hijacker is Meade, once a soldier under Gruen’s command. Reporters note that thousands of hunters are entering the Washington forests for the start of deer season. In the mountains, Meade retrieves a previously hidden backpack and dons a fake beard and moustache, but soon discards the disguise. He also retrieves a hidden Jeep and another backpack containing a hunting rifle. Meade tosses several twenty dollar bills into the river, hides the rest of the money in a compartment under the passenger seat, and then hunts for a deer. Elsewhere, Gruen shows Denise photographs of his former soldiers and the flight attendant identifies Meade. When Meade is stopped at a checkpoint in the mountains, he shows a fake driver’s license and claims to be a hunter, verified by the deer strapped to the front of his Jeep. The officers search his vehicle, including the compartment under the passenger seat, which is now empty. Down the road, Meade stops at a food stand and offers the deer to a family in the parking lot. After moving the animal to their truck, Meade recovers the backpack of money hidden in the deer carcass. Meade leaves his Jeep in a remote hangar and starts for Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in a truck. En route, he stops at a river, rows his boat to a piling, and ties the backpack underwater. In Mexico, Remson, a drug dealer and veteran who served with Meade, also realizes D. B. Cooper’s true identity and heads for Wyoming. Gruen arrives in Jackson Hole to question Meade’s wife, Hannah, who runs a river rafting business. Hannah insists she has not seen her husband in a long time, but Meade unexpectedly calls. Not wanting to alert Gruen, she pretends Meade is a client and secretly agrees to meet him. After Gruen leaves, Hannah visits Meade’s father, who is also a former serviceman and known as “Brigadier.” She is furious that Meade consistently disappears from her life and expects her to drop everything when he returns. That evening, Gruen follows Hannah to a bar. She asks her river rafting employee, Homer, to distract Gruen while she sneaks out, but Gruen sees Hannah leave and follows her, unaware that Remson is also outside the bar. Hannah meets Meade at a timber plant and is shocked to learn he is D. B. Cooper. Meade claims he did it for her, and convinces Hannah to leave Wyoming to pursue adventures with him. However, Gruen arrives outside, insisting he only wants the money back, but Meade does not believe his former nemesis. Hannah sneaks toward the truck while Meade turns on the plant’s machinery and creates a Molotov cocktail. Remson arrives as Meade rides a conveyor belt outside. Meade tosses the flaming bottle into Gruen’s car, and the vehicle explodes. Meade and Hannah race to his father’s house. The Brigadier is furious that his son is the hijacker and surprised that Hannah is leaving with him. The Brigadier wants his son to turn himself in, but Meade wants his father’s approval for executing the meticulous operation. As Meade and Hannah leave, their truck explodes, and Gruen appears with a gun aimed at the couple. Gruen wants the money and the glory for recovering it, but insists Meade can go free. The Brigadier steps outside with a rifle and orders Gruen to drop his weapon. After Meade and Hannah drive away in the Brigadier’s car, he allows Gruen to leave. Gruen returns to the bar, claims he has an inheritance for Meade, and convinces Homer to take him to Meade’s remote hideaway. The next day, Gruen and Homer arrive as Hannah and Meade retrieve the money from the river. Seeing Gruen, Meade rows toward the river’s rapids. After Gruen offers a $500 fee, Homer pilots their river raft, and the pursuit begins. During the chase through dangerous rapids, Gruen falls into the water. While Homer saves Gruen, they do not notice Meade’s boat crash into rocks. Meade and Hannah hide as Homer and Gruen continue down the rapids. The couple hikes to a nearby road and attempts to hitchhike, but the lone car passes them. Down the road, they discover the same car, seemingly empty and with keys in the ignition. Meade and Hannah steal the car and drive off, but Remson arises from his hiding place in the back seat, aims a gun at Meade’s head, and demands half the money. Instead, Meade accelerates and speeds through the winding mountain road until he crashes between two trees. Meade gets Remson’s gun, locks him in the trunk and walks away with Hannah. Meanwhile, Gruen realizes Meade is not on the river and hikes to the road. When Gruen comes across Remson in the car, he recognizes his former soldier, takes the man’s binoculars, and locks him back inside the trunk. At a ranch, Meade and Hannah leave money for the owners before riding away on two horses. Gruen spots them through binoculars, then hitchhikes to the nearest town, buys a used car, and pursues the couple to Arizona. Later, he discovers Meade and Hannah traded their horses for a used truck. Remson frees himself from the trunk, obtains a car, and joins the chase. Hannah and Meade make love as they drive, until the truck overheats. They are towed to a gas station and the vehicle is repaired. However, upon leaving, the truck will not start and they discover Remson hiding inside the engine with a gun. Remson demands all the money, but Hannah slams the truck hood on his hands, and they leave Remson stuck inside a stack of tires. Gruen arrives at the gas station and telephones his boss, who fires him for lack of results. However, when Gruen learns that Meade and Hannah were at the station, he continues his pursuit. Gruen sees Remson hitchhiking and gives him a ride. He agrees to split the money in exchange for Remson’s information, but after learning of Meade’s next destination, he tosses Remson from the vehicle. At a desolate airport, Meade and Hannah take refuge in the airplane graveyard where Meade has fashioned a home from an abandoned plane. They hear a sound and when Meade investigates, Gruen steals the money from Hannah. As Gruen flees in his car, Meade discovers Gruen slashed their truck tires. Meade runs across the airport, climbs into the cockpit of a decrepit plane and takes off. The plane barely stays aloft as Meade follows Gruen’s car into the desert. After a wild chase, Meade’s plane crashes and falls down a small ridge. Gruen’s car flies over the ridge and crashes next to the plane, but neither man is hurt. In the aftermath, Meade questions how Gruen knew he was the hijacker. Gruen admits few people have Meade’s skydiving expertise, and wonders if the adventure was worth the risk. Meade says that it was, and gives Gruen $25,000 to get a new car. Meade takes the money and walks to the road where Hannah picks him up. Moments later, Remson speeds toward the crashed vehicles in the desert, not noticing Meade’s truck as the couple drives away toward Mexico.