Arctic conditions, rough terrain, and remote homesteads make landing planes in Alaska a white-knuckled adventure. At Fairbanks International, crews race to clear the runway of snow for an approaching aircraft. In Anaktuvuk Pass, a 75-year-old war plane is used to make a car delivery but first must land on an unprepared frozen ice strip. And back at Ted Stevens, the captain of a 747 sends a distress call. Without wheels to touch down, he may be forced to land his 900,000-pound aircraft on its fuselage while traveling at 170 mph.

During the pandemic, cargo boomed at the Ice Airports, but passenger numbers fell greatly, leading to the grounding of some pilots. To regain his wings, Captain Gerry Moriarty must overcome a series of virtual emergencies in a $12 million flight simulator. Inside Ted Stevens, some very real crises have arrived in the form of an armed, suicidal passenger in the terminal and a suspicious powder at Customs and Border Protection. And at Northern Air Cargo, the race is on to get 72 champion sled dogs to Bethel before a large storm moves in.