Television anchorwoman Maggie Whelan reports from Washington D. C. on the following news stories: Concorde flight twenty-eight, America’s first supersonic carrier, will depart for a goodwill flight to Moscow, Russia via Paris, France, in honor of the upcoming Olympic Games; and Harrison Industries, a munitions manufacturer for the U.S. military, will be testing the Buzzard, a new attack missile, by targeting an unmanned, radio-controlled plane over the ocean. At home that night, Maggie relaxes before her next morning flight on the Concorde when the doorbell rings. It is Carl Parker, assistant sales director for Harrison Industries, insisting on speaking with her. Parker discloses that Harrison Industries has sold illegal arms to American enemies for the past fifteen years, including deals with terrorist groups. Maggie expresses doubt, but Parker claims he has documents verifying the transactions, locked away for safekeeping. Since Parker must leave town immediately, he has instructed his wife, Mary, to deliver the documents to Maggie tomorrow morning. Suddenly, a stranger enters and shoots Parker dead. He aims at Maggie, but she manages to escape by hiding on the roof until a neighbor hears her cry for help and sounds an alarm, scaring off the attacker. Early the next morning, a shaken Maggie meets with her lover, Dr. Kevin Harrison, the tycoon chairman of Harrison Industries, to inform him about the incident. Harrison is baffled that Parker, a loyal employee for twenty years, would sabotage the company, and denies knowledge of illegal arms dealing, explaining that someone is trying to blackmail him. Reassured, Maggie leaves to prepare for her trip. Meanwhile, Harrison notifies William Halpern, his long-time ally, reporting that not only are the documents still missing, but Maggie is now involved. Reminding Halpern that their life’s work is at stake, Harrison asks if the next missile test can be reprogrammed. At Dulles International Airport, French pilot Paul Metrand boards the Concorde with veteran American pilot, Joe Patroni, who is on his first official flight as captain of the supersonic aircraft. Inside the terminal, Harrison arrives in time to say goodbye to Maggie, who tells him that the “mysterious documents” were never delivered, but just as Maggie boards the runway shuttle vehicle, Mary Parker unexpectedly appears and hands her a travel pouch. Unable to intervene, Harrison watches from windows near the gate as Maggie leafs through the incriminating evidence. As other Concorde passengers board, including Markov, coach of the Russian Olympic weightlifting team; and his deaf daughter, Irina; Russian star gymnast, Alicia, and her coach, Nelli; Robert Palmer, an American sports journalist dating Alicia; Elaine and Dr. Stone, who are transporting a donor heart for Elaine’s sick son in Paris; Eli Sande, President of Federation World Airlines, the owner of the plane; and jazz singer Gretchen Carter accompanied by her saxophonist, Boisie. As the pilots prepare for departure, a distraught Maggie telephones Harrison from the cockpit to tell him that she has the documents that implicate him and threatens to call the newsroom. However, Harrison persuades Maggie to meet him in Paris during her overnight layover so he can explain before she breaks the story. When Harrison arrives at the test facility, Halpern, who designed the Buzzer missile, assures him that the reprogramming is set and cannot be traced. In the control room, the engineers launch and monitor the missile as it closes in on the unmanned plane. Then, Halpern secretly redirects the Buzzard’s course and disengages the self-destruct function. While only Harrison and Halpern know that the new target is the Concorde, the rest of the control room tries not to panic while they alert U.S. Defense about a malfunctioning missile. Soon after takeoff, Joe and Paul receive information about military traffic in their airspace. They see a guided missile and quickly veer the aircraft out of harm’s way until U.S. Air Force jets blow up the drone. In the meantime, Harrison persists in his plan to stop Maggie, and issues confidential orders to Andre Robelle, his Paris associate to arrange an attack by one of the company’s unmarked fighter jets. Once again, Joe and Paul evade missile fire and narrowly avoid a nosedive into the ocean, just as the French Air Force arrives to destroy the rogue fighter. Despite damaged brakes, the Concorde lands safely in Paris, aided by runway nets. Leaving the terminal, Maggie is barraged by press, reporting that various terrorist groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks as a protest against the Olympics. When Harrison arrives in Paris by private jet, Robelle updates him on a plan to bribe an aircraft mechanic. During dinner with Maggie, Harrison presents a draft of a press release, acknowledging the company’s illegal activities, but Maggie remains unwavering in her decision to publicize the documents as soon as she gets to Moscow. Meanwhile, the mechanic, Froelich, rigs the cargo door of the Concorde to open during the flight to Moscow, which will cause the plane to break apart. The next day, the crew and passengers settle in after a routine takeoff, when Joe and Paul hear a noise. Cracks appear in the floorboards. The cargo door opens, and the plane undergoes explosive decompression creating a wind tunnel through the cabin. Eli Sande almost falls through a gaping hole in the bottom of the plane, which drops 20,000 feet before the pilots can regain control. Leaking fuel means the plane must make an emergency landing in the Alps, but Paul remembers a snowfield near the ski resort Patscherkofel. As the engine stalls, Joe and Paul slide the plane across the makeshift runway, and it comes to a stop buried in snow. An alpine ski patrol rescues the passengers and crew before the Concorde explodes. On a television set aboard his private jet, Harrison watches the news report about the crash. As he listens to Maggie’s audio broadcast from the rescue site, he realizes he can longer prevent the documents going public and shoots himself.