In Die Hard 2, on Christmas Eve, mercenaries seize control of Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, 25 miles west of Washington, D.C. They take control of the airport's communications and threaten to cause plane crashes unless their demands are met. Holly is stranded, her plane circles overhead. McClane discovers a conspiracy between the mercenaries and an active military unit to rescue a notorious dictator from being imprisoned for crimes against humanity.