Other mistake: When the three enter the palace there are many guards protecting it. When the miner kids exit the palace, all the guards are gone, which allows for a happy scene, but still it's quite odd that the Imperial Palace suddenly has no protection at all.
Other mistake: When Indie and Short Round stop and get off the elephant before they walk up to the palace in India, the tusks have obviously been extended by props to make the elephant look more impressive.
Other mistake: During the Tri-Motor crash sequence, the crew dumps the fuel from the aircraft and bails out. In the shot of the red fuel pouring out, the fuel is shown streaming out of the exhaust pipe for the center engine, which would be hot enough to cause the fuel to ignite and either set the aircraft on fire or cause it to explode.
Other mistake: In the "tunnel of bugs" you may reasonably expect there to be such creatures as cockroaches, spiders or giant centipedes, but the majority of the insects are locusts which are herbivorous and would not be found in an underground tunnel. Other out-of-placers are giant stick insects (also herbivorous) as well as a South American harlequin beetle (this part of the film is set in India). You can also see, in the scene where Willie turns her hand over to reveal one of the giant stick insects, that she is cupping it to hold the insect in place.
Other mistake: When the Thuggee throws the sledge hammer over his shoulder, notice that the man whose head the hammer lands on closes his eyes and leans his head slightly forward before the hammer hits him, as though he was already expecting the hammer to land on his head. (01:28:40)
Other mistake: When fighting the sword wielding guards before getting on the bridge, Indy uses his bullwhip to disarm one of them. As the sword flies out of his hand it kind of hangs in the air as it falls. It is obviously a prop made of a very light material. (01:42:35)
Other mistake: When the airplane Indy and company are flying in runs out of gas, there is a close up of the instrument panel. The hands of the altimeter start spinning as the plane descends. However, so does the altimeter setting at the side. The altimeter setting is changed by the knob at the bottom. It does not change with altitude.
Other mistake: In the spike room, you see Shorty step on the switch that seals the two doorways. During that part, you see the stone extend from the wall, which he leans against to start the lowering ceiling. However, when Willie enters, without stepping on the switch, she pushes the stone to both seal the doors, start the ceiling lowering again, and extend the spikes. Why did it come out without anyone stepping on the switch beforehand like it did previously?
Other mistake: When Willie is given the pot of soup, she puts her spoon in and the eyes float up to the surface. Why are all of the eyes looking straight upward? Unless they're anchored in some way, not all of the pupils, if any, should be on top.
Chosen answer: His neck was snapped by the whip getting caught in the fan. There isn't always blood with a hanging. Since the fan wasn't designed to hold a man's weight, the motor in it would have stopped or given out.
Captain Defenestrator