A conceited, reckless society playboy, Harley Ames, arrives at Ginger Bar, a former banana-shipping depot on the edge of the Panama Canal, that has been converted to a training-and-relay station for U. S. Army bombers being flown back-and-forth to Africa for further training of the pilots. Although he is a capable pilot, Ames immediately incurs the enmity of the training-officer, "Hardtack" Hamilton, because he is reckless and also because he is making a play for Susan Merril, the field-commander's daughter with whom "Tack" is in love. Because of a broken date by Susan, Ames gets drunk and, the next day, crashes his ship on combat training killing another pilot in the process. Now, he must redeem himself. Maybe he'd get a chance if "Tack" and another pilot would have a crash in the jungle.