Flightplan

Factual error: Jodie Foster states that as a propulsion engineer, she knows the internal structure of the plane by heart and has worked extensively on it. The problem with that is that propulsion engineers work on the jet engines - which are all on the outside of the plane, on the wings. Sure, a propulsion engineer might have some basic knowledge of the plane's interior design and engineering, but the in-depth knowledge she claims comes from her job simply isn't right - that's the job of avionics engineers.

swordfish

Factual error: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are shown checking baggage in the final scenes at the same time that FBI agents are making arrests. The flight landed in Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. According to the Criminal Code of Canada, any crime committed during an international flight that ends on Canadian soil is deemed to have been committed in Canada. That being the case, the RCMP as the national police force has full jurisdiction. There is no way the FBI would be involved at that point.

Factual error: At the end of the movie, when they land in Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, the firetrucks that rush to the scene are the wrong color. The firefighters at the Goose Bay airport drive yellow fire trucks, not red ones.

Volanges

Factual error: At the end of the movie when Kyle and her daughter are being driven away we see a shot of the licence plate. Although it is marked "Newfoundland and Labrador" the numbers are before the letters, the reverse of what it is in the province.

Volanges

Factual error: Carson says that the explosives were put inside the casket because caskets aren't X-rayed. Even though often times cargo such as the casket are sent by "known shippers", and known shippers check screen the casket, they are still X-rayed by airport security. There are no exceptions to X-raying cargo, even if it was already deemed secure.

Factual error: When Jodie triggers the explosives and the plane collapses, the windshield is shown shattering and exploding. That is multilayer safety glass, it would not shatter in that manner.

Matt Klarich

Factual error: Near the end when the plane lands, we see the front wheels touch down first instead of the rear wheels. A pilot would never land like that unless it was absolutely unavoidable, as it would more than likely result in a major incident.

garok89

Factual error: Human remains, while sealed in a casket, are always transported in a protective box. This box, usually cardboard, has "human remains" placards all over it.

Plot hole: Gene's plot has far too many holes for it to have had any chance of working in real life. He somehow must get himself assigned to that particular flight (OK, maybe as a flight marshal he could persuade his superiors to assign him to it) - but also hope that the air stewardess Stephanie is also assigned to that flight - something he has no control over. He then needs to push Jodie Foster's husband off a building, hope the corpse is taken to the only morgue in the city with a crooked morgue director, hope the coffin is assigned to the flight he is on. On top of that, he needs to get explosives into a coffin, the combination of which he actually says he doesn't know. He also needs to hope no-one notices the child, the child doesn't make a noise while boarding, there are lots of spare seats on this inaugural flight, and that mother and daughter move to them.

swordfish

More mistakes in Flightplan

Kyle: You get off the plane when I say you get off the plane.

Bunch Son

More quotes from Flightplan

Trivia: While he plays an airline captain, Sean Bean is an aviophobe and flies only when he finds it absolutely necessary.

Cubs Fan

More trivia for Flightplan

Question: At the end of the movie, when they are at the tip of the plane, Jodi and her daughter slip into a tiny compartment, just as she activates the bomb. She and her daughter are safe, and the small space they were in must have been bomb-proof. Since that compartment is at a part of the plane that is rarely visited, how come a tiny place was made entirely bomb-proof? Or what was the space they climbed into and for what reason was it made?

Answer: The hatch they climb into is the hold of the plane, i.e., the section with the coffin, the car, and all the other luggage in. It only appears small because of the way it is filmed. As Kyle would have known, it would have been extra strong and reinforced, as it was a break in two sections of the plane.

More questions & answers from Flightplan

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