A plane is damaged during a World War II bombing mission. The plane's navigator, Russell Hamner (Richard Basehart), panics and bails out, causing the plane to crash in the Libyan desert, killing everyone else aboard. Years later, after Hamner is promoted to general, an oil scout discovers the plane's wreckage, which remains haunted by the ghosts' of its former crew. Two officers (William Shatner, Vince Edwards) are tasked with investigating the wreckage while Hamner covers his tracks.