Corrected entry: When Wesley is looking to dump fuel the cabin crew mentions that plane is a jumbo jet. The plane that's displayed is not a jumbo.
Corrected entry: When the L-1011 lands at the small airport, the hijackers demand fuel. The small town sheriff agrees to the demand. A small tanker shows up which would be able to hold roughly 3000-4000 gallons. That amount of fuel wouldn't even fill up one wing.
Correction: The hijackers demand fuel, and they get fuel. They do not say how much they want, nor do they demand full tanks. 4000 gallons is nearly 27000 pounds, enough for 2-3 hours of flying.
Rane said fully fueled.
Corrected entry: When the terrorists radio the small airport telling them to get the runway ready for them to land, the air traffic controller denies the copilots landing request. In an emergency situation, ATC is not allowed to deny a plane landing.
Correction: Not true. If a landing is possible, they must be expedited to the closest airport able to take them. If, for example, a runway is out of service, or the aerodrome is too small to handle a large airliner, they wouldn't be able to land there.
Corrected entry: At the beginning of the film. Charles Rayne asks the surgeon what time it is. He replies "It's 12 o' Clock" Rayne then jumps up and grabs the scalpel and proceeds to slit his throat. Run it in slow motion and you will see the fake blood on the surgeon's throat before it is supposedly cut.
Correction: Slow motion disqualifies this as a mistake, as it looks okay at normal viewing speed.
Corrected entry: When Wesley Snipes is down below on the plane and wants to bring the plane down, the air hostess says that they are on a 747, when in fact the plane is a DC-10 or other type.
Correction: The hostess says "We're on a jumbo jet.". That general term is used to refer to any widebody, be it a 747, DC-10, L-1011, 777 or the like.
Corrected entry: The hijacked L-1011 Tristar lands at a small airport, which in theory it could probably do, but it would never be able to take off from there. Planes typically require at least double the runway to take off as they do to land (except on aircraft carriers). The airport it "landed" at has two runways, the longest being 6500 feet. The early L-1011's need at least 7500 feet to take off, and that isn't with full fuel and bags, as would be the case with this aircraft.
Correction: I was in Passenger 57 and those scenes were filmed near Orlando, Florida, at Sanford Airport, a small airport but that plane landed and took off numerous times from that very airport during our filming. So apparently the airport was big enough to handle the plane.
Correction: Yes it is. The plane is a Lockheed L-1011, which along with the 747 and DC-10 were the first generation of widebody aircraft. "Jumbo jet" is a generic term for any widebody.