Murder in the Clouds

Trans-America Airlines pilot Bob Halsey is confident in his flying skills and his romance with Judy. Judy wants him to give up his daredevil ways for their future.

Federal agent Brownell urgently requests Lackey's cooperation: Clement Williams must be flown from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., with a cylinder containing a revolutionary new explosive. Lackey's assistant Jason is secretly eavesdropping for Taggart, a spy.

Lackey selects Bob as the pilot and Judy's brother Tom as co-pilot for the dangerous assignment. Taggart sends three men to provoke Bob into a fistfight, while George Wexley pretends to offer protection by suggesting he could take over.

Over the lower Sierras, the Ford Trimotor explodes, suggesting sabotage of the mission. Bob and Lackey hasten to the crash site to assess the disaster and search for survivors.

At the crash site, they recover Tom's cap and confirm there are no survivors. Back in Los Angeles, Bob and Lackey report the tragedy to authorities, sealing the case.

Judy, desperate for news of her brother, drives toward the crash site, evading a police roadblock. She is spotted by Jason, who is traveling with the spies to a nearby house they are using.

At the house, Judy is confronted by the faux federal agents. Wexley explains a plan where the saboteur ordered him and Tom to parachute out and plant the bomb, then disappear with the cylinder; in truth Tom is dead. They intend to hide the cylinder in Judy's car and drive toward Mexico.

That night, Tom's body is recovered, vindicating the suspicions against the saboteurs. Judy pretends not to have heard the news and secretly paints Bob's three-star logo on the porch roof as a signal.

Back in Los Angeles, Bob learns Jason has fled with the three men who knocked him out. The investigators also uncover Jason's eavesdropping device, confirming the spies' plot against them.

Bob flies back to the crash area with Wings, who works as the airline's mechanic. They land among the three stars, and Bob tells Wings to head for the Air Patrol if trouble arises, but the spies seize Judy and the cylinder amid gunfire.

Wexley and Taggart depart in Wexley's armed biplane with Judy and the cylinder. Wings arrives with the Air Patrol and, after a brief gunfight, the rest of the gang is captured.

In a dogfight, Taggart is killed and the Air Patrol plane is shot down. Bob is rescued and takes off with Wings, then uses daring maneuvers to force Wexley to land. Wings knocks him with a rock, and Judy and the cylinder are recovered.

Grateful for the safe return, the government acknowledges their help, but Judy and Bob simply want to marry and start their life together.