John Mitchell's efforts to provide a better life for his wife Mary and their two children appear doomed, and he blames himself. Mitchell will test the Conway Aero-Manufacturing Company's new rocket-propulsion transport plane in Wolverhampton, fully loaded and carrying two important passengers: Ministry official Crabtree and buyer's representative Ashmore. Mitchell learns from his boss, Reg Conway, that if Ashmore does not recommend the plane, the company will go out of business and Mitchell will lose his job, because the plane is not even insured and the firm's entire capital is tied up in the plane. An engine catches fire in the air, and the passengers and other crew bail out, but Mitchell refuses to obey orders to ditch the plane in the Irish Sea.