Factual error: Scenes of the CGI Airbus A320 do not show the RAT (Ram Air Turbine) deployed. When the A320 loses power in both engines, the RAT automatically deploys to provide minimal electrical power to the plane. (01:20:05)
Factual error: During the evacuation scenes there are several scenes where there are leaves on the trees. This happened in January.
Factual error: During the hearing where Sully and Skilles are listening to the recording of their conversations, we are given a flashback of the actual event. As the US Airways jet is taking off LaGuardia, we are briefly given a shot of the NYC skyline, with One World Trade Center appearing fully complete. One World Trade Center did not appear fully complete like this until mid-2013, and in 2009 (during the events of the film) construction on it had barely reached street level. (01:18:50)
Factual error: The NTSB was portrayed horribly in this movie. They investigate purely on facts, not going on witch hunts like this movie implies. In the movie they tried to "second guess" and "blame the pilot." This never happens in real life.
Suggested correction: The NTSB is, like any other organisation, is run by people with their own biases and imperfections.
This goes way beyond biases and imperfections. Sullenberger himself was disturbed by the way the NTSB investigators were depicted. Having reviewed an early draft of the script, he asked that their names be removed from the characters. According to Hanks, Sullenberger felt that the NTSB investigators were not prosecutors, and it was not fair to associate them with changes in the story to depict "more of a prosecutorial process." The film's version of the investigation is wildly inaccurate.
Factual error: In the flight deck scenes, one of the engine parameters displayed is "EPR." This applies only to A320s with IAE V2500 engines. The "Miracle on the Hudson" A320 had CFM56 engines, so the parameter should have read "N1."
Factual error: In a scene, when the airplane passes the Manhattan skyline, you may well see in the middle of the skyline the "432 Park Avenue Building" built between 2013-2015, but the movie is set in 2009. (00:45:20)
Factual error: If you look at the takeoff seen you can see an American Airlines 737 800 in the new livery despite this move taking place before American having their new livery.
Factual error: The movie showed the FAA HQ building. Then the next shot showed the NTSB Public Hearing Room. The NTSB is actually located around the corner in DC from the FAA. They are not in the same building.
Factual error: The cockpit voice recording is highly sensitive in nature. It would never be played in front of hundreds of people like in the movie.
Factual error: When the A320 taxies out from LaGuardia there is a Continental airlines jet with scimitar winglets. These were not on commercial aircraft in 2009.
Factual error: When Tom Hanks is running through Times Square you can see the sign for the musical Aladdin which opened on Broadway in 2013. This movie is set in 2009.
Factual error: When Sully decides to land in the Hudson River, the aircraft is approaching the George Washington Bridge the Ground Proximity Warning System advises to the pilots "Obstacle, Obstacle." This is correct; however, after the aircraft clears the bridge, the system then announces "Clear of conflict." This is incorrect, because the GPWS doesn't advise when clear of terrain. The Traffic Collision Avoidance System advises when clear of conflicts, which is only between aircraft.
Factual error: During the flashback to the F-4 flight emergency, the visuals are inconsistent with the dialogue: they are approaching runway 21, which has a runway heading of 205 to 214, and the visuals before the dialogue shows them lined up with the runway. The dialogue of Sully's back seater is "Heading 020, five miles out, sir." This is 170° away from the runway heading, almost the opposite direction. (00:41:31)
Factual error: A (white) iPhone 3GS is shown after passengers are rescued by the American Red Cross, but that iPhone model was only presented during the summer of 2009, whereas the landing on the Hudson happened in January. The iPhone 3GS was the first iPhone also available in white.
Factual error: When Sully approaches the airport vendor for a sandwich we see a souvenir orange New York license plate reading "Times Sq." New York didn't introduce the new orange plates until April 2010.
Factual error: When Sully buys a sandwich, one of the magazines in shot is the September 2015 issue of Jaguar World. The scene is set in 2009. (00:27:00)
Factual error: In a scene where Sully is walking through down town NYC in between yellow cabs, one of the cabs is a 2015 Toyota, but the movie is set in 2009.
Factual error: The Space Shuttle Pavilion on the Intrepid is visible in the movie. Enterprise was only transported to the Intrepid in 2012.
