Since winning the Wings Around the Globe race, Dusty Crophopper has a successful career as a racer. Unfortunately, his engine's gearbox becomes damaged due to being regularly forced over its limits. With that particular model of gearbox now out of production and none available anywhere, Dusty's mechanic Dottie fits a warning light to his control panel to ensure he doesn't damage his gearbox any further. No longer able to race and faced with the possibility of returning to his old job as a crop-duster, Dusty goes on a defiant flight and tests his limits. In doing so, Dusty exceeds his limits and makes a forced landing at Propwash Junction airport, causing a fire.
The residents put out the fire with some difficulty, but the accident leads for government inspector Ryker to condemnthe airport due to inadequate firefighting personnel. Aggrieved at his carelessness, Dusty offers to undergo training to be certified as a firefighter to meet the necessary regulations to reopen the airport. To that end, Dusty travels to Piston Peak National Park where he meets a fire and rescue crew under the command of a helicopter named Blade Ranger. The leader of an efficient unit, Blade is initially unimpressed by the small newcomer and Dusty's training proves to be a difficult challenge.
Maru, the team's mechanic, replaces Dusty's original undercarriage with two pontoons fitted with retractable undercarriage wheels for his new role as a firefighter. During training, Dusty learns that Blade was formerly an actor who played a police helicopter on the TV series CHoPs. Later, Dusty is devastated by a call from his friends at Propwash Junction noting that all attempts at finding a replacement gearbox have failed and that his racing career is over.
Lightning in a thunderstorm over a forest near Piston Peak starts several spot fires which unite into a serious forest fire, and the team fight it and seem to have extinguished it. But during the grand reopening of a local lodge, visitingVIPs fly too low and make air eddies which blow embers about, creating a larger fire.
A depressed Dusty's education falters to Blade's frustration and things come to a head when Dusty makes a forced landing in a river during a fire dispatch and is swept through the rapids with Blade trying to extract him. Eventually, the pair make it to land, and Dusty confesses his physical disability, to which Blade advises Dusty not to give up. They shelter in an abandoned mine while a fire passes. The situation is complicated in that Blade also is damaged, from protecting Dusty in the fire, and is temporarily grounded for repairs. While Blade is recuperating, Dusty learns that Blade's co-star from CHoPs was killed during a stunt gone wrong on set that Blade was helpless to stop, so he decided to become a firefighter to save lives for real.
The national park's superintendent, Cad Spinner, selfishly diverts all the water supply to his lodge's roof sprinklers to prevent the lodge from burning, and so prevents the firefighters from making fire retardant for their own duties. With only their pre-existing tank loads, the firefighters manage to help the evacuees escape the fire while Dusty is alerted that two elderly campers are trapped on a burning bridge deep in the fire zone. He races to the scene and is forced to push his engine to the maximum to climb vertically up a waterfall to refill his water tanks to drop water to save the campers, as the only other surface water near is a river too shallow and twisty and rocky for him to scoop from. Meanwhile, Blade shows up and assists the campers. Dusty successfully drops water and extinguishes the fire, but his overstressed gearbox fails completely and his engine stalls. He tries to glide through the trees to make a safe landing, but one of his pontoons hits one of the trees and he crashes.
Unconscious, Dusty is airlifted back to base where he wakes up five days late to learn that not only has his structure been fully repaired; Maru has built a superior, custom-refurbished gearbox for his engine to allow full performance once again. Impressed at Dusty's skill and heroism, Blade certifies him as a firefighter. Propwash Junction is reopened with Dusty assuming his duty as a firefighter, celebrated with an aerial show with his new colleagues from Piston Peak.
During the end credits, it is shown that Cad's misconduct resulted in him being demoted and reassigned as a park ranger in Death Valley.
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