With a pair of no-nonsense gambling bookies hot on his heels, down-and-out pilot Noah Dugan (Elliott Gould) is forced to take a job transporting a missionary (Geneviève Bujold) and her cargo of farm animals to a remote location. When his rickety B-29 crash-lands on a deserted island, Noah, Sister Lafleur and the orphan stowaways they discover hiding on the plane must convert the downed craft into a seaworthy vessel capable of carrying them home.