Ex-piloten og krigsveteranen Ted Striker kæmper med et krigstraume, der har ledt til et alvorligt “drinking problem” – han forsøger konstant at indtage væske gennem alle andre ansigtsåbninger end munden. På et fly fra Los Angeles til Chicago forsøger han at vinde sin gamle flamme, stewardessen Elaine Dickinson, tilbage. En mission, der viser sig sværere end først antaget, da en stor del af flyets passagerer, samt det meste af besætningen, bliver syge af madforgiftning.

Two air traffic controllers who thrive on living dangerously compete to outdo each other on several levels.

For her upcoming exhibition, "Apology," Lily, a New York conceptual artist, is designing a sound and sculpture installation inspired by the testimony of anonymous phone callers who, after responding to a public advert inviting them to spill their guts, leave messages on her answering machine. When one caller confesses to a murder, Lily begins to suspect that the mystery man may be intending a little "performance" of his own: her death.