A Dakota carrying US generals, their wives, and a girl takes off from Vienna bound for Pisa. A storm drives the DC3 over the Swiss Alps. Miraculously, the pilot manages to fly around the mountain peaks without any sense of direction until the plane crashes on the Gauli Glacier, triggering the most spectacular Alpine rescue to date. American military personnel disable their own and attempt to conquer the glacier with tanks. But the Swiss are not deterred by the US. A small mountain rescue team climbs to the accident site under the most difficult conditions. For the first time, a rescue plane lands on skids on the eternal ice, and Switzerland is celebrated by the world press.