In 1971, Mexican soldiers drive a van into the mountains with two prisoners. They stop to free one man, Enrique Cardosa, but force his fellow prisoner, Sosa, to shoot Cardosa dead. Later, in Santiago, Chile, a Transpacific Fruit and Steamship Corp. executive named Jay Wagner is wrongfully arrested for the murder of his business partner, Cardosa. At the New York City headquarters of Transpacific,the company president, and Jay’s grandfather, Harris Wagner, learns from a U.S. government operative named Cable that Jay’s “frame-up” was executed successfully; Jay has been extradited to Mexico City and faces a thirty-year prison sentence.Harris admits Jay had associations that posed a threat to both the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and company stakeholders, but insists that his grandson remain alive. At a hilltop Mexican fortress, Jay receives a conjugal visit from his wife, Ann, who is devastated about her husband’s imprisonment. She gives him cash and suggests they seek help from Harris, but Jay dislikes his tycoon grandfather and protests. He denies her request to make love and vows to plan an escape. That night, Jay bribes guards and fellow prisoners to help him flee in the coffin of a deceased inmate. However, Jay reveals his whereabouts to the malicious warden, J. V., when he is nearly buried alive, and is returned to the fortress. Meanwhile, in New York City, Ann visits Harris, who promises to finance Jay’s escape. She then tracks down pilot Nick Colton at his makeshift airfield in Apollo, Texas, and he agrees to charter a plane to Mexico for $1,239.52 cash. The next day, Nick and Ann fly over the prison as Jay works on a chain gang. When the plane lands, Jay sprints toward the aircraft, but soldiers open fire and Nick lifts off without Jay, outraged that Ann did not warn him about the danger. Back in Texas, Nick’s partner, Hawkins, is surprised to see bullet holes in the plane and Ann accuses the pilot of cowardice. When Ann reveals the true nature of her plan, Nick agrees to help for an additional $4,000. Nick and Hawkins then visit the trailer park home of Sheriff Spencer and his hairdresser wife, Myrna, who is also Nick’s former lover. Nick offers Myrna $350 to disguise herself as a prostitute and act as a decoy, but the sheriff objects. Hawkins grudgingly agrees to take her place. In Mexico, Hawkins, dressed as a woman, arrives during the prison’s conjugal visiting day with a female costume for Jay hidden in his picnic basket. However, the prison break is thwarted by an awaiting soldier in Jay’s cell, and Hawkins is severely beaten. Jay is transferred to a rat-infested cell with a new cellmate, Sosa, the man who was forced to kill Enrique. Nick accuses Ann and her associates of double-crossing him, but he takes pity on the young woman when she bursts into tears. He promises to try the breakout again for free, with a $50,000 fee upon delivery. Meanwhile, at Transpacific headquarters, Cable tells Harris about his grandson’s attempted escapes and warns that Jay’s life is at stake if he returns to the U.S. Back in Mexico, Ann visits Jay, who suspects she is having an affair with Nick and attempts to rape her. In Texas, Nick finally convinces Sheriff Spencer to allow Myrna to assist with the prison break. Nick then seeks instruction to become a helicopter pilot, but despite his best efforts, he is unable to master the new skill. His young instructor, Harve, unwittingly agrees to fly the helicopter for a share of the earnings from Nick’s secret project. With his plan in place, Nick tells Ann to have her husband meet him in the prison courtyard at precisely 3:00 p.m. in one week’s time. He warns that the helicopter will only wait ten seconds. She protests that Jay is in the hospital, but Nick insists on going through with his plan. In Mexico, Ann visits Jay in the prison hospital and finds he is being cared for by Sosa. When Sosa leaves, Ann orders her husband to go to the prison courtyard at the correct time, but she is unsure if he understands. The day before the jailbreak, Nick and Myrna cross the border in a convertible, posing as tourists, while Harve pilots the helicopter and Hawkins flies Nick’s prop plane into Mexico. As the friends meet at a remote location, Nick tells Harve the truth about their mission and the young man refuses to risk his life. Nick declares he will pilot the helicopter, and changes into a Mexican military uniform. Meanwhile, at the prison hospital, Sosa helps Jay to his feet and they stumble toward the door; however, they are thwarted by J. V., who orders Jay back to bed. With twenty minutes remaining before the 3:00 deadline, Sosa is detained by J. V. and Nick awkwardly navigates the helicopter toward the fortress as Hawkins and Myrna drive up the mountainside. Commotion strikes the compound with the helicopter’s approach. As Sosa kills J. V., Jay sneaks past his doctors, who are distracted by the landing helicopter. Inside the cockpit, Nick counts to ten aloud while Hawkins and Myrna distract the guards. Nick lingers past his ten-second count and prisoners swarm the helicopter, allowing Jay to climb aboard undetected. Although Sosa clings to the helicopter’s skids as it lifts off, he is shot by guards and falls to his death. Hawkins and Myrna speed toward the meeting place as Mexican soldiers give chase. Nick makes a bumpy landing and transfers Jay into the waiting airplane while Harve lifts off in the helicopter. Hawkins and Myrna arrive just in time to board plane, which barely misses a Jeep filled with Mexican soldiers as it leaves the ground. Airborne, the team thinks they are in the clear, but Nick receives radio orders from U.S. customs to land in Brownstown, Texas. Ann overhears the command from Nick’s airfield and races toward Brownstown, unaware that Cable, the CIA agent who orchestrated Jay’s arrest, is following her. On the ground, Nick talks to customs officials and motions to Ann that all is well, but back on the tarmac, Jay is detained by Cable. When Nick returns to his plane and discovers Jay missing, he gives chase. Nick fights Cable on the runway as a plane approaches; its propellers slice through Cable’s body. Ann pays Nick his amassed reward of $55,239.52 and they stare into each other’s eyes with longing, but she drives away with her emotionally wounded husband. Despite his lost love, Nick celebrates his financial reward with Myrna and Hawkins.