After witnessing the brutal murder of a prosecutor by gangster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) and his band of thugs, Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) is escorted by FBI agents Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) and John Sanders (Mark Houghton) to testify in a highly-publicized case in Los Angeles.
Despite increased security for the flight, Kim arranges for
time-release crates full of venomous snakes to be placed in the cargo
hold of the plane, a Boeing 747-400
(although the interior used features spiral stairs, typically found in
the -100 and -200 models of the 747), on which Jones will be flying
from Honolulu to Los Angeles. The leis given to the passengers by airport staff upon their departure had been secretly sprayed with pheromones to make the snakes more aggressive in an attempt to bring down the plane before it reaches its destination.
Most of the supporting passengers and crew members are introduced at
this point. The passengers include health-obsessed rapper 3Gs (Flex Alexander), with his two bodyguards Troy and Big Leroy (Kenan Thompson and Keith Dallas), a rich girl Mercedes (Rachel Blanchard) with her dog, Mary Kate, a Latin woman (Elsa Pataky)
named Maria travelling with her baby, two young boys, Curtis and Tommy,
who are travelling by themselves for the first time, Chen Leong (Terry
Chen), a kickboxer, and Paul (Gerard Plunkett), a British businessman
who is unhappy with being moved from first-class to coach (all the
first-class passengers have moved back this way so that Flynn and Sean
can have the section to themselves to guarantee Sean’s safety). The
crew include Claire Miller (Julianna Margulies) who is leaving after the flight to become a lawyer, Grace (Lin Shaye), a senior attendant, Ken (Bruce James), a flamboyant crew member who displays effeminate behaviour, and Tiffany (Sunny Mabrey), a young, attractive attendant who flirts with Sean.
The crate opens midway through the flight and the snakes make their way throughout the cabin due to a tampered-with access hatch,
killing numerous passengers, the pilot, and Agent Sanders. The
surviving passengers flee first to the front of the airliner, putting
up a blockade of luggage, but when the snakes break through due to
turbulence caused by the co-pilot being attacked by a snake, they flee
upstairs to the first class area, hoping it will be safer. As they are
making their way up the stairs, a Burmese python
falls into the cabin from the lighting panel where it was hiding. Paul
tries to distract the python by flinging Mercedes’ dog, Mary Kate, into
the python’s jaws. The tactic only provides a momentary distraction and
Paul is also eaten by the snake.
Agent Flynn contacts FBI Special Agent Hank Harris (Bobby Cannavale) on the ground, who arranges for emergency crews to be waiting at Los Angeles International Airport. Agent Harris then calls ophiologist Dr. Steven Price (Todd Louiso),
who identifies the snakes based on pictures Agent Flynn sends him via a
smartphone belonging to Mercedes. It is learned that the deadly crate
was full of exotic snakes from around the world, which leads the FBI, with Agent Harris and Dr. Price in command, to a man named Kraitler (Darren Moore), who is the only person in the Los Angeles
area who would be capable of gathering the rare snakes found on the
plane. Agent Harris extracts a confession from Kraitler, who says that
he was the person who illegally obtained the snakes for Kim’s use. He
is then taken into custody, with his stock of antivenom being commandeered for the surviving snakebite victims aboard the plane.
Meanwhile, Flynn goes into the bottom of the plane in order to
restore the air conditioning/ventilation, without which the plane would
overheat and plummet into the ocean. While searching for the switch, he
discovers that a mechanical panel was intentionally left open to allow
the snakes to reach the cabin where the passengers were located. Upon
returning, he finds that the surviving copilot, Arch (David Koechner)
has been killed by the snakes. Neville Flynn loses his temper and
orders all the passengers to strap into their seats, while he uses his pistol to shoot out two windows, which causes the plane to depressurize, blowing the snakes out of the plane.
Flynn and Troy then take the controls and land the plane at Los
Angeles International Airport, thanks to Troy’s 2,000 logged hours on a
PlayStation 2 flight simulator.
Once the plane lands, the passengers ride the yellow exit slides to
safety. As Agent Flynn and Sean depart the plane, a final snake drops
from overhead and bites Sean. Agent Flynn draws his gun and shoots the
snake, causing Sean to tumble down the slide. Paramedics rip open
Sean’s shirt to reveal a bulletproof vest
with two bullets embedded in it. As the passengers and crew depart,
Agent Flynn decides to repay Claire by taking her out for dinner.
Tiffany kisses Sean and gives him her phone number. Ken, who is assumed
to be gay throughout the movie, is seen kissing his girlfriend, and
everyone reacts with surprise. The film’s closing scene features Jones
and Flynn surfing, presumably in Bali.
