剧情：俄美两国策划一起反恐行动，派出特种部队擒获了掌握核武器的哈萨克王国独裁者伊万•雷迪克将军（Jurgen Prochnow 饰）。数周后的庆功宴上，曾为越战老兵的美国总统詹姆斯•马舍尔（哈里森•福特Harrison Ford 饰）针对恐怖分子和独裁政权发表了强硬而精彩的演说。莫斯科之旅圆满结束，总统一家及其政要乘空军一号返回美国，同行的还有艾格（加里•奥德曼 Gary Oldman 饰）带队的俄罗斯媒体工作人员。 安全人员百密一疏，艾格的真实身份是效忠于雷迪克将军的恐怖分子。飞机起飞后，艾格和同伴们劫持飞机，绑架美国政要及总统家人，只有詹姆斯侥幸逃脱。恐怖分子要求俄美释放雷迪克将军，而藏身空军一号中的詹姆斯则和这群匪徒展开殊死决斗…… The film begins with an American Special Forces unit capturing General Ivan Radek (Jurgen Prochnow), the dictator of Kazakhstan. Radek's regime had caused an enormous amount of bloodshed for Kazakhstan, and there was word that his stockpiling of nuclear weapons would have plunged the world into a second cold war. His capture was made through the joint cooperation of President James Marshall (Harrison Ford), and Russian President Petrov (Alan Woolf). Several weeks after the capture of Radek, President Marshall visits Moscow, along with his wife Grace (Wendy Crewson) and daughter Alice (Liesel Matthews). While Marshall is praised for his help in freeing Kazakhstan from Radek's grip, Marshall surprises everyone (including his own men) by deviating from his planned speech. Marshall says that in light of all the people killed in Kazakhstan they were too slow to act, and vows to not allow such a thing happen again. Marshall, his family, and his men are then returned to Air Force One, which takes off on its return trip to Washington D.C. Unknown to the President or anyone else, a rogue secret service agent named Gibbs (Xander Berkeley) has secretly allowed onto the plane several men who are supporters of General Radek. After the plane has reached cruising altitude, Gibbs kills several agents in a crucial protective position on the plane and the hijackers, led by Egor Korshunov (Gary Oldman), don bulletproof vests and collect weaponry that is used by the Secret Service. Korshunov and his men quickly gain control of the plane, killing several Secret Service officers and capturing the 1st Lady and the president's staff. In the chaos, Marshall is ordered into an escape pod in the cargo hold. Air Force One's pilots attempt an emergency landing at Ramstein Air Base, but are soon killed with one of Korshunov's men taking control of the plane. A group of F-15's are sent after Air Force One as an escort. The plane is piloted towards Kazakhstan, and Korshunov places a direct call to the White House, where Vice President Kathryn Bennett (Glenn Close) and Defense Secretary Walter Dean (Dean Stockwell) listen to Korshunov's demands. Korshunov requests the release of General Radek, with the stipulation that a hostage will be executed every half hour until his demands are met. Shortly thereafter, the President's escape pod is found, but he is not inside. During the firefight, Marshall hid aboard the plane, intent on saving his family, a fact of which neither the White House or Korshunov are aware. Korshunov assumes that the President escaped Air Force One, while the empty pod's discovery by the White House has them speculating that Korshunov and his men have killed Marshall. In his communications with the White House staff and military leaders, Korshunov is clear to point out that he believes Marshall is a coward for deserting his family and staff and taunts the Vice President. Bennett calls President Petrov, in hopes that he can release Radek temporarily (with the hope that once Ivan has released the hostages, they can quickly recapture him). However, Petrov is not willing to give into this request without proof that the President is alive. After 30 minutes, Korshunov calls the White House to find out if Radek has been released. When Bennett and National Security Adviser Jack Doherty (Tom Everett) try to stall for time, Korshunov coldly executes Doherty. Korshunov then has Grace and Alice brought to the cockpit, leaving several men to guard the rest of the hostages.