Greg Holder is flying in business class, when suddenly, all the TVs go dark. The message "announcement in progress" appears on the screens. The pilot addresses the passengers over the intercom. He tells them that U.S. forces have lost contact with the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam and that there has been a large flash. The TVs resume playing movies. The planes continue toward Boston. Violinist Arnold Fidelman is in coach sitting next to a sick but pretty-looking Korean girl whose name is A Ra. Fidelman taps A Ra on the shoulder and offers her the rest of his soda. She expresses her anxiety. She says she has family in Korea; Arnold knows the announcement was about Guam, but that Korea likely played a part in the attack. A man across the aisle makes micro-aggressive comments aimed at A Ra. The racist man insists that the flash was a dirty bomb launched by the leader of the DPRK. Leonard Waters is the pilot. He is flying with a beautiful co-pilot, Kate Bronson. They receive a call from the controller who alerts all aircraft on that frequency to land at the nearest airport to clear the airspace for operations for Ellsworth. The controller concludes by saying that Uncle Sam needs air space for a world war. Leonard asks Kate what they have at Ellsworth; Kate responds that the 28th bomb wing is there. Veronica D’Arcy is in business class. The pilot announces that the plane must be rerouted and land at the Hector International Airport to clear the airspace for military maneuvers. He says there should be no cause for alarm. Veronica is an actress. She decides to start to drink and she strikes up a conversation with the man sitting next to her, Greg Holder. Greg recognizes her from the movies. Veronica thinks about her daughter. Jenny Slate is in coach. She speaks with her love Bobby — who makes politically charged (and conservative) remarks about the bombing. Arnold Fidelman asks him to be quiet. Jenny thinks back to when Bobby found her cast out of her family because she was an unwed pregnant woman; Bobby insisted that he would love both Jenny and the baby. Jenny fantasizes about dying for Bobby. Bobby makes several racist remarks about groups that are anti-American, including the Black Lives Matter movement. Arnold Fidelman says he is racist. Bobby gets up. Mark Vorstenbosch, the senior flight attendant, tells Robert Slate and Arnold Fidelman that they will both be arrested if they get out of their seats again. A Ra, next to Arnold, helps diffuse Arnold's anger over the incident with Bobby.
Suddenly, smoke surrounds the plane. Moments later a large thunderclap is heard. The plane thrusts, and Vorstenbosch, who is in the cockpit talking to the flight team, floats up and then smashes into the ceiling. Kate Bronson dresses Vorstenbosch’s injuries. The flight team discovers that Fargo is a first-strike location. They change the course of the plane to go north. The control calls them to ask why. Leonard explains that as Fargo is the first-strike location, all two-hundred and thirty-seven souls aboard may die. An explosion occurs behind them and the cloud below them rises and bends upwards. Explosions follow this. The control releases Leonard and Kate’s flight from their control.