When U.S. marshals Pete Nessip (Wesley Snipes) and his brother, Terry (Malcolm Jamal Warner), escort Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter), a criminal computer hacker, on a flight headed straight to federal prison, little do they expect terrorist skydivers to foil their mission and capture the hacker. Terry is murdered during the attack and after the plane lands, FBI agents suspect Nessip for the terrorism, suspend him, and it is up to his ingenuity to prove his innocence while at the same time seeking revenge on Terry's killers. Nessip begins to investigate the possibility of involvement by an ex-DEA renegade and daredevil skydiver, Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey), who was the mastermind behind the attack that freed Leedy. In order to learn more about the world of skydiving, Nessip joins a championship skydiving school in Florida, run by Jessie Crossman (Yancy Butler) who informs him of a legendary jump on Washington, D.C. on July 4th, which is rumored to be the one time, every year, where security is lessened over the capitol's air space. Director John Badham's action thriller features harrowing skydiving action sequences.