Alcoholic pilot, Ted Striker has developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, but nevertheless boards a passenger jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend. Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller and Striker’s vengeful former Air Force captain, who must both talk him down.
Tough-talking Detroit cop Axel Foley heads to the rarified world of Beverly Hills in his beat-up Chevy Nova to investigate a friend’s murder, but soon realizes he’s stumbled onto something much more complicated. Bungling rookie detective, Billy Rosewood joins the fish-out-of-water Axel and shows him the West Los Angeles ropes.