Dieter Dengler, a German-born U.S. Navy pilot in squadron VA-145, is shot down in his A-1 Skyraider over Laos in February 1966, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to be pursued, and ultimately captured, by the Pathet Lao. Dengler is given the chance for leniency by the Province Governor if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. He is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military soldiers and pilots, such as Gene DeBruin and Duane W. Martin, along with Y.C., Procet, and Phisit, some of whom have been captive for years. Dengler begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow combatants, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture by the camp guards.
Airline pilot captain Whip Whitaker (Washington) uses cocaine to wake up after a night of very little sleep in his Orlando hotel room. He pilots SouthJet Flight 227 to Atlanta which experiences severe turbulence at takeoff. Copilot Ken Evans (Geraghty) takes over while Whip discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice and takes a nap. He is jolted awake as the plane goes into a steep dive. Unable to regain control, Whip is forced to make a controlled crash landing in an open field and loses consciousness on impact.
The film is a story of two soldiers, one American and the other Japanese, marooned on an uninhabited Pacific island, who, in order to survive, must accept their differences and work together, despite their two countries being at war.
The first part of the film concentrates on the personal lives of the air crew, including their problems and relationships. For family reasons, one of the pilots has had to give up a promising career for a much less ambitious one. Despite this, his wife senses that he is not happy, which makes her a conflicted and angry spouse. Though both the parents love their son, it is not enough to prevent them from divorcing. Subsequently, the pilot resumes his career piloting the large passenger planes he had been hankering after. One of his pilot colleagues does not believe in family at all — his flat is full of impressive self-constructed light effects and son et lumière equipment that he uses to impress the parade of women he has one-night stands with.
In February 1942, just two months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States Army Air Forces plan to retaliate by bombing Tokyo and four other Japanese cities—taking advantage of the fact that US aircraft carriers can approach near enough to the Japanese mainland to make such an attack feasible.
In 1928, Douglas Bader joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a cadet. Despite a friendly reprimand from Air Vice-Marshal Halahan for his disregard for service discipline and flight rules, he successfully completes his training and is posted to No. 23 Squadron at RAF Kenley. In 1930, he is chosen to be among the pilots for an aerial exhibition.
Colonel Joseph Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot who is shot down over Italy. He is captured by Italian troops and taken to a POW camp, run by the cruel Blackshirt Major Basilio Battaglia (Adolfo Celi). The camp is mainly populated by British prisoners.
While taking a business trip, architect Max Klein (Jeff Bridges) survives a crash of a flight headed from San Francisco to Houston. As the plane descends, Max inexplicably becomes at peace when he accepts he is going to die. The revelation inspires him to comfort many of the fearful passengers, even moving to sit next to Byron Hummel (Daniel Cerny), a young boy flying alone. The psychological trauma of the experience transforms his personality and he enters an altered state of consciousness, rethinking his life and becoming preoccupied with the eternal meanings and the existential questions of life and death itself. Max's reaction to this awakening itself questions the reality of what is real and unreal and what his mind perceives as real through his interaction with others and the chance of living again in everyday life.
The film opens with a series of photographs of the Stella Maris College's Old Christians Rugby Team. Carlitos Páez explains that the pictures were taken by his father and points out several members of the team, including himself as a young man, Alex Morales, Felipe Restano, Nando Parrado and the team's Captain Antonio Balbi. Carlitos then reflects on the accident in a brief monologue, speaking of heroism, the gravity of the situation and of solitude and faith.
Luftwaffe fighter pilot Franz von Werra (Hardy Krüger) is shot down during the Battle of Britain and captured. He wagers with his RAF interrogator (Michael Goodliffe) at the POW reception centre, Air Defence Intelligence, Cockfosters, near Barnet in Hertfordshire, that he will escape within six months.