The film was written by Andrew W. The film was a box office success and received mostly positive critical reviews. A joint operation between American and Russian special forces captures General Ivan Radek, the dictator of a rogue neo-Soviet regime in Kazakhstan that retained its nuclear weapons , threatening war. Three weeks later, U. President James Marshall attends a diplomatic dinner in Moscow , during which he praises the operation and insists the United States will no longer negotiate with terrorists.
Marshall and his entourage, including his wife Grace and daughter Alice, and several of his cabinet and advisers, prepare to return home on Air Force One. However, six Radek loyalists disguised as journalists led by Egor Korshunov infiltrate the plane. After takeoff, Secret Service agent Gibbs, a mole , enables Korshunov and his men to obtain weapons and hijack the plane, killing multiple security and military personnel before taking the rest hostage, including Grace and Alice.
Marshall is raced to an escape pod in the cargo hold while pursued by Korshunov's men, but they are too late to stop the pod from ejecting. Korshunov breaches the cockpit, aborting the plane from making an emergency landing at Ramstein Air Base. However, Marshall, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a Medal of Honor recipient, had hidden himself in the cargo hold instead of using the pod.
He covertly kills two of Korshunov's men and obtains a satellite phone to communicate with Vice President Kathryn Bennett, letting his staff know he is still alive and aboard the plane.
Korshunov, assuming that it is merely a Secret Service agent in the cargo hold, contacts Bennett and demands Radek's release, threatening to kill a hostage every half-hour.
