In 1930, Jean Mermoz (Val Kilmer) and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Tom Hulce) are French aviation pioneers of the Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, which ferries mail from South America to France. Henri Guillaumet (Craig Sheffer) is hired in Argentina to link Santiago de Chile to Buenos Aires. On several occasions he faces the raging weather of the Andes Cordillera, which finally forces him to land in the middle of the icy expanse. The rescue teams pass over without seeing him. Guillaumet decides to walk to save his life. After days of wandering, he lies down in the snow to die. His insurance policy comes back to mind: his body must be found for his wife Noelle (Elizabeth McGovern) to receive the premium. He manages to walk a few more days, before being taken in by Argentine farmers. Soon, he will go back to flying. "An extraordinary adventure (...) it is the first time the IMAX process is used to shoot a fiction, it is the beginning of the third dimension" (Envoyé Spécial).