In the aircraft, Bill is shown to have take-off jitters. He is so stressed and panicky that he wraps a good-luck ribbon around his palm and the woman sitting next to him, Jen Summers (Julianne Moore) has to calm him down during take-off.
But once the flight is in mid-air, Bill's body language changes, he enters the toilet, masks the smoke detectors. The narration gets intriguing. He settles on the WC to have a puff but before that he displays his ace Air Marshall" badge and gun.
And, while he is puffing, he receives a text on his mobile phone. "Are you ready to do your duty Marshall?" Surprised, he thinks it's a prank since he is on a secured network.
But gradually, the text messages turn threatening. "I am going to kill one of the passengers in 20 minutes, unless, $150 million is wired to a bank account", and then a number is displayed.
