Kurt Russell is David Grant, a Pentagon defence analyst with a tough mission on his hands. He has to rescue 400 hostages from a hijacked 747 aircraft which is stacked full of dangerous chemical weapons and heading straight for Washington DC. Since the terrorists real objective is the destruction of the US capital, Grant realises that attempts at negotiation will be fruitless and consequently resolves to board the 747 himself. But the mission, led by Special Operations expert Austin Travis (Steven Seagal), looks doomed from the start, when the experimental aircraft they are using to board the 747 goes wildly out of control during the docking procedure.