Continuity mistake: The captain gets shot. The copilot is still in the right seat when requesting emergency landing (first landing). In the landing, someone's hand from the left (captain's) seat is moving the throttle controls yet the copilot's leg is visible (and moving) in the right seat. The copilot stays in the right seat when the plane departs again. (00:42:20)
Continuity mistake: As Cutter rides away on the motorcycle, a wide shot of the plane shows the doors are closed and the release of passengers has finished. However, when the FBI arrives a minute later, passengers are again being released from the plane. (00:50:00 - 00:51:10)
Continuity mistake: After the FBI agents who escort Rane up the boarding stairs are shot, Rane runs up the remaining stairs and past Mr Forget. 2-3 seconds later there is a wider shot of the plane which again shows Rane running up the stairs and past Mr Forget. (01:04:35)
Continuity mistake: When Sabrina is talking to Norman, her hair falls forward over her shoulder toward her chest. In the very next shot—and throughout the following shots—it has been brushed back behind her shoulders.
Revealing mistake: When Sabrina kneels down to speak with the child, his haircut around the ear differs completely from the previous shot.
Revealing mistake: When the terrorists drop the dead body out the aircraft door, look closely at the aeroplane just beneath the door, you can see the reflection of the mat the stuntman lands on, as well as the spotters around it.
Continuity mistake: Liz Hurley shoots one of the FBI agents seated next to Rane, in the background the other agent can be seen with make-up on waiting to be shot next. Then the angle changes and his blood has vanished.
Continuity mistake: A sexy blond woman wearing a short hot-pink top, dark jacket and miniskirt exits the plane with the first 100 hostages. She leaves again later with the rest of the passengers and is seen leaving the plane again at the end when the members of the press surround the plane to question the agent.
Other mistake: In several of the scenes involving the helicopter the film was flipped. The registration numbers on the side of the chopper are backwards.
Continuity mistake: You can tell what order the scenes were shot in simply from the condition of Wesley Snipes' face. The actor obviously had a horrible skin problem throughout the film production - his face is riddled with acne and boils. When watching the film, keep particular attention to the right side of Snipes' face (in fact, many scenes are shot in order to avoid his right profile) for huge boil on his cheek - it keeps appearing and disappearing throughout the movie. Furthermore, you can even tell what scenes had to be reshot because the unsightly blemish appears and disappears even within the same scene.
Continuity mistake: When Wesley Snipes is brought down the control tower steps by the two cops, he is wearing handcuffs in the control room and then the handcuffs disappear when he throws the cops down the stairs.
Factual error: When the aircraft window is shot out, depressurization of the plane occurs shortly after the door of the plane blows off. When depressurization occurs, the pressure in the fuselage drops. Why would the door blow-out now when it held before with higher (normal) pressure?
Continuity mistake: When Wesley Snipes beats up the two cops hauling him down the stairs of the air traffic control tower, one cop's hat falls off. In the next shot of Snipes knocking him down the stairs, the hat is back on.
Continuity mistake: One scene takes place supposedly at a county fair in Louisiana. Louisiana doesn't have counties, they have parishes.
Factual error: When the large airliner is brought down at the the small, regional airport, a huge movable stairway is rolled up to the aircraft so that people can disembark. There is absolutely no reason why a stairway designed for major jet aircraft would be sitting at a small airport that didn't even have runways long enough to accommodate such large airplanes.
Audio problem: When Cutter rolls and shoots at Vincent, we can hear the distinct sound of his pistol. However, we see a shot of the pistol's slide in the open/locked position, meaning he's run out of ammo, but we can still hear the pistol being fired a few times after that.
Continuity mistake: After Cutter crashes through the fence, you see the black box with the antenna that was sitting on the back of the motorcycle fall off. When he gets to the fairground, the black box is back on the back of the motorcycle.
Continuity mistake: When Charles Rane runs away from the police at the start of the movie, he shoves a guy in a brown suit over, but in the next shot the guy has now completely disappeared.
Factual error: Just after Ranes shoots a hostage, when in the standoff with Cutter, the pistol (a Beretta semi-auto) is shown uncocked, which wouldn't happen normally since the movement of the bolt after the shooting to eject the capsule also cocks the guns automatically.
Factual error: The L-1011 lands at the small airport and the hijackers demand fuel. When the fuel tanker shows up with the fuel, the fueler opens the fuel panel and puts an 'overwing' nozzle up inside the fuel panel. This type of nozzle would only be used if the fueler was on top of the wing filling the wing through a small gas-cap type of fueling point.
Answer: I just rewatched it this morning. When Rane is trying to persuade Sheriff Biggs that he means business, one body (presumably The Captain) is thrown out of the plane. Just before the passengers are released, we see a quick shot of yo ambulances. One has 3 full occupied body bags in it. Therefore, it's implied the other two are in the other ambulance. This takes place before the FBI guy gets there. The fact that he tells Rane, those guys you killed were my friends" means that at some point they were identified by name. He could've found out numerous ways (Washington told him, briefing, the paramedics, Biggs, etc).