Frank Towns (James Stewart) is the pilot of a twin-engine Fairchild C-82 Packet cargo plane flying from Jaghbub, Libya to Benghazi in Libya; Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) is the navigator. The passengers include Capt. Harris (Peter Finch) and Sgt. Watson (Ronald Fraser (actor)) of the British Army; Dr. Renaud (Christian Marquand), a physician; Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Krüger), a Germany Aerospace engineering; and an oil company accountant named Standish (Dan Duryea). There are also several oil workers, including Trucker Cobb (Ernest Borgnine), a foreman suffering from mental fatigue; Ratbags Crow (Ian Bannen), a cocky Scotland; Carlos (Alex Montoya) and his pet monkey; and Gabriel (Gabriele Tinti (actor)).