FBI man Stafford is extraditing convicted killer Brett Murphy from Spain to the USA. At the last minute, Murphy's fiancée, entertainer Jean Gurney, finds he's been taken and slips on the plane. Unknown to them, a suicidal passenger has a fire and gas bomb in his luggage. As time ticks away, minor dramas are played out on board. Then the pilots succumb to the fumes, and the only available substitute is Murphy.