In an unthinkable act, zealots have hijacked the airborne fortress carrying the President of the United States. Now, while President James Marshall evades capture in the belly of the plane, the terrorists begin executing passengers. If the terrorists' demands are granted and a tyrant is set free, hundreds of thousands of innocent people will die. But if they are denied, the zealots will kill everyone on Air Force One, including the President's wife and daughter - and inevitably the President himself.