At the airport, reporter Terry Brewer is checking out the passengers to see if any of them are newsworthy. When he recognizes police detective Mike Phelan, who is traveling under a pseudonym, he hurries to call his paper. The editor orders him to take the flight and keep an eye on Phelan. They suspect that Phelan is on the trail of escaped convict Killer Madsen. Terry takes the last seat on the plane, glad of the opportunity to spend time with stewardess Rita Moore, with whom he is in love. The passengers include a punchy fighter and his manager, an old woman with an interest in astrology, a tall, younger woman, a schoolteacher and a drunk. When the airplane lands in Albuquerque, Terry quizzes Phelan, who denies that Madsen is his object. Soon after takeoff, one of the passengers is stabbed to death. Rita discovers the body, and she and Bob White, the pilot, wake the rest of the passengers. To everyone's surprise, the young woman turns out to be Madsen dressed in women's clothes. He pulls a gun and destroys the radio, insisting that Bob land in a field, despite a severe dust storm. Terry asks Madsen for an exclusive interview, during which, Madsen denies that he murdered the dead passenger. Rita tries unsuccessfully to dope Madsen's coffee. In the following confusion, the engines die and Bob makes a forced landing in the midst of the storm. Everyone seeks refuge in an isolated farm house. While Bob and Terry try to fix the engines, Rita discovers that the old woman is actually younger than she looks. She reveals her discovery to Phelan. Meanwhile, Terry has surreptitiously repaired the airplane's radio and called for help. Rita distracts Madsen, enabling Terry and Bob to knock him unconscious. After the rescue planes arrive, Phelan reveals the old woman to be Katie Dorn, who killed her former sweetheart, the man on the plane, because he tried to run away with stolen bonds. The mystery solved, Bob proposes to Rita.