Despite this, Dinah insists that Craig must not be killed as the group needs him alive. Meanwhile, Craig frees himself from his bonds and stabs Dinah, perceiving her to be the main Langolier. With the realization that fuel pumped into the plane will also return to normal, Brian has the plane refueled and he manages to start the engines. Albert theorizes that time is still flowing inside the plane, which is proven when food brought onto the plane is restored to its normal properties. As Dinah reports that the sound is growing closer, Craig relates to Dinah and Laurel that the sound is emitted by the 'Langoliers', which are said by his oppressive father to hunt and devour negligent and unmotivated boys.

Bob concludes that the aforementioned phenomenon was a 'time rip' that has sent their plane to the past. The unhinged Craig considers the situation to be a conspiracy against him and takes Bethany hostage at gunpoint, but the environment has robbed the gun of its potency, and the passengers apprehend Craig. Dinah hears an approaching and threatening sound, and the group agrees to leave before it arrives. As all products and substances have lost their quality, fuel does not burn, thus preventing any further flight. The clocks have stopped, there is no electricity, and the environment seems generally lifeless. Upon arrival, they find the airport deserted. Brian manages to land in Bangor, Maine despite furious protests from Craig, who insists on reaching Boston for an important conference that will decide his fate. Brian takes control of the plane, but is unable to make any outside contact, and the passengers can only see a dark void below the plane. The passengers find that the crew and the passengers who were awake have disappeared, leaving the airliner under the control of the autopilot. Dinah, mistaking a wig for a scalp, screams and awakes Brian and nine other passengers: teacher Laurel Stevenson, English diplomat Nick Hopewell, writer Bob Jenkins, violinist Albert Kaussner and his girlfriend Bethany Simms, businessman Rudy Warwick, mechanic Don Gaffney, bank manager Craig Toomy and an unknown heavily intoxicated passenger. Dinah Bellman, a young blind girl with psychic abilities, also falls asleep, and awakes to find that her aunt and several other passengers have disappeared.

Brian falls asleep during takeoff, having been awake throughout his previous flight.

A flight attendant speaks of an unusual phenomenon over the Mojave Desert that resembles an aurora. Pilot Brian Engle, immediately after a difficult flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, learns that his ex-wife Anne has died in an accident in Boston, and he boards a red-eye flight to Boston as a passenger. Wikiquote has quotations related to Four Past Midnight.

Stephen king 4 past midnight