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| “ | I'm getting off this plane! | „ |
| ~ Gibbs' last words before his death. |
Agent Gibbs (also simply known as Gibbs) is a major antagonist of the 1997 film Air Force One. He is a Secret Service agent and a Radek agent. He is the one responsible for letting Egor Korshunov and his band of Russian terrorists hijack Air Force One.
He was portrayed by Xander Berkeley, who also played Red John on The Mentalist and Gregory on The Walking Dead.
Role
Gibbs's death.
Gibbs was once a trusted friend of President James Marshall (the protagonist of the film). However, it wasn't until the arrest of General Ivan Radek, Gibbs secretly plotted with Egor Korshunov and his accomplices to hold Marshall, his entire staff and his family hostage on Air Force One in order to coerce Russian President Petrov into releasing Radek.
As part of the plan, Gibbs secretly assassinates several agents and unlocks the plane's on-board armory for Korshunov and his henchmen (disguising as journalists), using a smoke grenade to signal them. To avoid any suspicion, Gibbs maintained his supposed loyalty to Marshall as the plane is being hijacked by the terrorists.
However, after a game of cat-and-mouse, President Marshall manages to help take down all the terrorists (including Korshunov) and cancel Radek's release, resulting Radek to be shot down as he attempted to escape. However, the plane has taken heavy damage and is unable to land safely, so they call in a U.S. Air Force Rescue HC-130 to rescue the President and his family.
However, as Marshall is able to get his family to safety, Gibbs reveals his true colors by shooting down Major Caldwell and a parajumper, demanding Marshall to give him the remaining emergency strap. Fortunately, Marshall (furious at his betrayal) fought him long enough to prevent him from getting the emergency strap. Marshall escaped to safety while Gibbs was left on board crying in defeat as Air Force One crashes into the Caspian Sea, killing him instantly.
Trivia
- In the final moments of the film, Gibbs attempts to leave Marshall at the Air Force One to die while he would be carried to safety by the emergency strap. However, given that Gibbs killed Major Caldwell and a parajumper, the Air Force Rescue HC-130 crewmen would have most likely pulled the rope away before Gibbs could reach it in order to leave him to die or drop it to leave Gibbs to fall to his death after killing Marshall. It's possible that Gibbs didn't think about this when he attempted to take out Marshall's life.
