When an airline tragedy kills fifty-seven people, it falls to investigator "McBane" (Glenn Ford) to get to the bottom of things. He has precious little to go on save for a report from the pilot claiming an engine fire before silence then the plane hit the ground. One of the survivors, the stewardess "Sally" (Nancy Kwan) has slightly conflicting information about the crash so "McBane" assembles the wreckage and he can't make either story work - something's not right! The absence of any clear technical fault suggests to all the it's his wartime friend "Savage" (Rod Taylor) who was at fault - but...