Three years after Hank Thomas was thrown out of the air force because his best friend was killed in a military experiment/exercise led by Major Carson who caused the crash of TWA flight 800, he is approached by a group of CIA agents led by Harold Peters and Sharon Williams and Carson. They tell him that a microwave beam weapon killed his friend and those on TWA flight 800 and has now been attached to a super-sonic fighter plane called the Flacon. The falcon project has just been canceled by the military and the company that built it plans to steal it from its base at Area 51 and then sell it to the Chinese for $10 billion and that they need Hank's help to steal the plane and fly it to Alaska to have it dismantled before the company steals it. Hank and the CIA agents are secretly parachuted into Area 51 and in a gun battle get to the Falcon's hanger and steal it. But soon the Air Force is in pursuit as the plane makes its way to Alaska and events make Hank realize that the four CIA agents aren't CIA: they're mercenaries who have conspired with Carson to steal the Falcon and sell it to the Chinese. As Hank dodges air force fighter planes, he must also fight the mercenaries, and also land the Falcon, now leaking fuel, on an ice cap.