Synopsis

Captain Saul Bridges is an American bomber pilot in World War II. Just before the end of the war his plane is shot down over Berlin. Though seriously injured he survives because a little boy and his sixteen year old sister hide him and take care of him. Traute and Lukas have lost their mother during an air-raid. Since then Lukas doesn't speak anymore, but an invisible band of affection seems to connect him with Bridges, for Lukas' father was a pilot, too.

Three years later: The citizens of Berlin are supplied by the airlift. Cpt. Bridges now pilot of a so called “candy bomber” returns to the place, he bombed during the war and where his life was saved by people, whom he has come to save now in return. Due to dense fog his plane crashes at Tempelhof Airport. Bridges and his co-pilot survive, but the goods as far as not lost are confiscated. This causes a problem for Bridges, because he and an MP at the airport are in league with German black marketeers, who sell the goods to bigwig Sovjets. While trying to settle matters with the German partners Bridges surprisingly meets Traute, who unknown to him is the contact person of the gang. The group's leader, former SS-man Neidhardt, has looked after Traute and Lukas since the war and supplied them with medicine for Lukas, who is suffering from tuberculosis. Neidhardt forces Bridges into an ill-advised operation to steal the confiscated goods from Tempelhof Airport by threatening the life of Lukas and Traute. But the venture fails. In a dramatic showdown Neidhardt is killed and Bridges manages to save Traute and Lukas by heroically sacrificing his life, that had been saved three years earlier by the siblings. The movie ends with the first words, Lukas speaks since his mother's death, signifying the beginning of a new era and a new people: Thank you!