Air Force One

Air Force One (1997)

10 factual errors - chronological order

(6 votes)

Factual error: The plastic explosive used on the cockpit door was C-4. When shot (as shown), C-4 does not explode; it requires the use of a detonator.

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Suggested correction: You can see him applying a detonator prior to him shooting it.

If he applied a blasting cap (detonator) he should have used it then. Just putting a detonator into C-4 doesn't all the sudden make it vulnerable to being shot, he would have to actually hit the blasting cap's wire, which is about 5mm thick and relatively short (and it would have to be one that's sensitive to gunfire). Not a very probable shot, even less so when he doesn't even look when he shoots.

Bishop73

Factual error: Characters are able to move from the front of the airplane to the back through the lower cargo hold. Their progress would be blocked in the middle of the airplane by a massive area of structure called the wing center section.

Factual error: The in-flight refuelling hardware on the real Air Force One makes a bulge visible below the cockpit window. The Boeing 747 used in the film lacks this bulge.

Factual error: In the scene where AF1 gets refueled by a KC-10 Extender tanker, it would be impossible to pull the whole refueling probe out of the tanker plane, not to mention causing a fire. AF1 would simply break the end of the probe, the tanker plane crew would close the internal fuel valves, and there would be no fire. The refueling hardware used on USAF tanker aircraft has predetermined breaking points, since it's likely that any other aircraft getting refueled suddenly loses height, gets off course or something.

Factual error: When taking off from Moscow and throughout the film the Air Force One pilots are in uniform. AF1 pilots do not wear military uniforms to foreign countries.

Factual error: The scene where AF-1 is being refueled in the air is wrong. The common practice is that the tanker is flying in front of the other aircraft. They do not approach the plane from the back, and never that low. The flight path over the AF-1 by the KC-10 will create a turbulence which would be very dangerous if not fatal for the AF-1. The tanker will guide the plane towards the refueling boom. Also the guidelines to guide the refueling boom on the nose of the AF-1 are missing.

Factual error: The two famous Air Force Ones are Boeing 747-200B model aircraft (military name is VC-25). That model has an older style flight deck, with steam/mechanical gauges. The newer 747-400 model has a "glass cockpit" with computer style displays. In the shot where the pilots get their takeoff clearance (and throughout the movie) you can see that it was filmed in a -400 model flight deck (most likely a training simulator for airlines).

Factual error: In the beginning scenes where the President's limousines are moving to the Moscow airport both cars have the US and Presidential flags on them. When travelling outside of the US the President's state cars fly the US flag and the flag of the visiting country. The Presidential flag is only flown with the US flag when the President is travelling in the United States.

mikederek

Factual error: When the lead MiG-29 was about to fire his missile, before it was countermeasured by the flares, he flicks the A/G missile switch, which stands for Air-Ground, even though he had a full Air-air load.

Factual error: The passenger door at the front of a 747 opens outwards and towards the front of the plane (as seen when President Marshall boards the plane). When the first family is being evacuated at the end of the movie, the door is nowhere to be seen.

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Suggested correction: That's because Gibbs had blown the emergency lock on the door and it went flying. Now, whether they'd actually do that and risk the door flying through the engine is another story, but I doubt the engineers had a mid-air rescue in mind when they designed it.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the President is being escorted to the escape pod, there is an extra shot where the President is hiding on his own around the corner from a terrorist, who is sneaking around in the background looking for him. In both the preceding and following shots, the President is being physically escorted by two Secret Service men who are pulling him along and forcefully holding his head down. This shot is wrongly inserted into this portion of the scene and needs to be later in the film, when the President is trying to escape. (00:23:40)

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Suggested correction: This mistake does not occur in the film.

It is a fragment of the scene when the man is checking downstairs when the whole plane is to be re-checked.

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Trivia: One of the secretaries tells the president she can send a fax to the White House, and he replies something like: "If this works, I'll make you Postmaster General". In the closing credits, she's credited as "Future Postmaster General".

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Question: When Gary Oldman is on AF1, talking to the vice president for the first time, he says something similar to "How's your blou.." What is he saying? I don't have the DVD, so I don't have subtitles.

Answer: Earlier in the same scene, Oldman says to the VP, "I'm sure you can't wait for him (the President) to get back to making the decisions so you can stop sweating through that silk blouse of yours." As he makes his demands known, he asks her "How's your blouse?" in reference to her perspiration.

ChiChi

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