Flight of The Intruder - Plot

Plot

Lieutenant Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton and his bombardier/navigator (BN) and best friend Lieutenant Morgan "Morg" McPhearson are flying a Grumman A-6 Intruder over the Gulf of Tonkin towards North Vietnam. Morgan navigates their way in while Jake makes comments about his taking his work too seriously. Once calling "feet dry" and passing the coast, they hit their target, a suspected truck park which turns out to be trees. While flying back out over the Gulf of Tonkin, Morgan is shot in the neck by a Vietnamese peasant and Jake declares an emergency. Upon landing on the USS Independence (CV-62), his BN and friend is dead. Disturbed and covered in blood, Jake walks into a debriefing with Commander Frank Camparelli and the executive officer, Commander "Cowboy" Parker. After a brief exchange of what he could recall from his flight, Camparelli tells him to put Morgan's death behind him and to write a letter to Morgan's wife, Sharon. A new pilot is then introduced in the ready room—Jack Barlow, who is named "Razor" because of his young appearance. The next morning, a memorial service is held for Morgan, in which the letter Jake wrote to Sharon is narrated.

Lieutenant Commander Virgil Cole arrives on a C-2 Greyhound, then shortly speaks with Camparelli.

Jake, his room-mate Sammy Lundeen, Bob "Boxman" Walkawitz and "Mad Jack" fly into Subic Bay the next day. After landing, he goes to see Sharon, but she's already departed. He runs into a woman named Callie Troy, who is packing Sharon's things.

After an altercation with civilian merchant mariners in the Tailhook Bar, Jake runs into Callie again in a café. After spending the night with her, she reveals her husband was a pilot himself and was killed on a solo mission over Vietnam.

Jake returns to the carrier where Camparelli confronts him regarding the incident. Cole and Jake are paired on "Iron Hand" A-6Bs loaded with Standard and Shrike anti-radiation missiles for SAM suppression. On the mission, they encounter and manage to evade a North Vietnamese MiG-17.

Jake suggests to Cole that they bomb Hanoi, which could get them court martialed. Cole rejects the idea.

On the next mission, Jake and Cole are paired up with Boxman. After hitting their suspected target, Boxman is shot down and killed by another SAM. On the TV news in the ready room, US aircraft debris are flashed in victorious manner by the Vietnamese in Hanoi. Cole agrees with Jake to attack Hanoi. They read through maps and articles and decide on "SAM City", a missile depot.

While on a mission to bomb a power plant in the vicinity of Hanoi, they drop two of their Mark 82 bombs, leaving eight for the missile depot. On their first pass, their armament computer goes out and after barely surviving a SAM detonation, their bombs do not release. They come back around and release, the missile depot is obliterated. After landing, Camparelli informs them of their court martial at Subic Bay.

The court martial charges are dropped when Operation Linebacker II is ordered by President Richard M. Nixon and their mission is covered up. The next day, Camparelli grounds them while the rest of the carrier's A-6 and A-7 crews conduct a daylight raid to destroy anti-aircraft emplacements. Camparelli is hit by a ZSU-23-4 AA gun and crash lands, his bombardier dead. Sammy Lundeen is hit and has to head for the ocean. Razor is ordered by Camparelli to disengage. Jake and Cole fly one more time to assist Camparelli. They destroy the ZSU, but are heavily damaged and forced to eject. Jake lands near the crashed Intruder and runs to cover with Camparelli. Separated from Jake, Cole tries to evade the NVA when he gets into a scuffle with one. He successfully kills him with his bayonet, but is mortally wounded. He comes in radio contact with Jake and lies to him, telling him he has already gotten away. Moments later, a pair of U.S. Air Force A-1 Skyraiders (Sandy) appear and to provide cover. Cole instructs the lead Sandy to drop ordnance on him and pops smoke. He is killed by the Skyraiders along with a few dozen NVA and possibly a ZSU. Jake and Camparelli retreat into the wooded areas away from their aircraft, while being pursued by a sniper. The Jolly Green Giant helicopter sent in to retrieve them drops a jungle penetrating cable. Jake hooks Camparelli on and takes his pistol and hides in a ditch waiting for any snipers to appear. While Camparelli is being pulled to the helicopter, a sniper pops up and Jake jumps out firing his handguns. The penetrator is sent back down and after a suspenseful wait, Jake is hoisted to the helicopter and the Skyraiders conduct one final napalm run.

The film ends with Jake reading a letter from Callie and talking to Camparelli, congratulating him on being selected for promotion to Captain and says he would like to be on that ship. Camparelli replies that he wouldn't have it any other way.