
He shoots Albert, who escapes injury since the bullet has no energy. Unable to get to his business meeting, Craig snaps, hallucinating his abusive, Type A personality father, and takes Bethany as a hostage. Craig believes it is "The Langoliers", monsters he was afraid of as a child who go after those who waste time. They soon hear "radio static" in the distance. Food and drinks are tasteless and matches simply sputter out. There are no odors, electricity, or echoes. Upon arrival, the airport is abandoned with no signs of life. Engle takes control and lands the plane in Bangor, Maine for safety reasons, despite Toomey's protests.

They realize only those sleeping are now left on the plane. The ten remaining passengers are Brian Engle, an off-duty airline pilot traveling to Boston to attend his ex-wife's funeral Dinah Bellman, a young blind girl with minor psychic powers fifth-grade teacher Laurel Stevenson, who takes to watching over Dinah Nick Hopewell, a junior attache & "mechanic" for the British Embassy Don Gaffney, a retired tool-and-die engineer on a trip to see his grandchild Rudy Warwick, a businessman Albert Kaussner, a talented teen violinist heading to a prestigious school of the arts Bethany Simms, a teenager being sent by her family to rehab Bob Jenkins, a mystery author who acts as the voice of logic and Craig Toomey, an irritable investment banker on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. On a cross-country red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston, ten passengers awaken to find that the crew and most of their fellow passengers have disappeared.
