When a C-119 cargo plane full of oil workers crashes in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert during a sandstorm, the survivors attempt to build a new plane from the parts they find in the wreckage to escape. The plane was piloted by Captain Frank Towns, an employee of oil company Geodel, whose job it is to go to remote oil rigs and shut them down when their productivity has decreased. Having accomplished his job with one such rig, his plane crashes with all of the employees aboard on the way back to Beijing. Can they survive the heat, the sand, and each other long enough to get it airborne?