Flightplan Trivias

The fictionally designated E-474 aircraft aboard which the story is set, clearly resembles the Airbus A380 as far as its general arrangement of full length upper and lower passenger decks and four turbofan engines. The name is obviously derived from the Boeing 747. However, there are differences that become apparent such as the way the aircraft overhead bins are opened, the excessive use of the Aalto logo and the extremely large spaces within mechanical areas.

Every character referring to the Kaiser Wilhelm Hospital, where Kyle's husband was treated and pronounced dead, immediately adds "on Hochstraße" (in Berlin). There is no Kaiser Wilhelm Hospital on that street and city (but many others throughout Germany) so these words were possibly added to avoid any damage to the reputation of a real-life hospital.

In real life, Sean Bean, who plays Captain Rich, and Peter Sarsgaard, who plays air marshall Gene Carson both experience a fear of flying.

Jodie Foster's role was originally written for Sean Penn. The original character's name of "Kyle" was even kept.

The 35mm prints of this film come from a digital intermediate that has been digitally grain reduced. As a result there are digital grain reduction artifacts visible on all prints.

The film's premise is similar to Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 film The Lady Vanishes. Parts of the plot are also similar to that of Bunny Lake is Missing, in that a mother has to convince the authorities that her child is not a figment of her imagination.

Boeing Aircraft engineers were brought in as technical consultants to the film and actress/producer Jodie Foster to verify the technical accuracy of the fictional aircraft, and the use of authentic terminology and jargon of aircraft design and operation.

There is an easter egg on the DVD that contains stock footage from the seatback displays during the movie, and another that shows the challenges of filming post-9-11.

A "Welcome aboard" video is shown during the passenger boarding scenes, with morphing effects between airline employees speaking different languages. It features greetings in (more or less in order): Mandarin ("Huan Ying"), Italian ("Benvenuti"), Akan ("Awkaaba"), Belarusian ("Zaprashajem"), Irish Gaelic ("Fáilte"), Russian ("Dobro pozhalovat"), Tagalog ("Mabuhay"), Urdu ("Khush Amdeed"), Japanese ("Yokoso"), Spanish ("Bienvenidos"), English ("Welcome" - twice), French ("Bienvenue"), Norwegian ("Velkommen ombord"), Swedish ("Välkommen"), German ("Willkommen") and Dutch ("Welkom").

The heart drawn on the airplane window early in the film by Julia is a much different shape than the one later revealed on the window when Kyle blows on the same spot.Airline jets often have round windows, because of issues of metal fatigue caused by constant pressurizing and depressurizing of the plane. As seen in the De Havilland's Comet airliner of the 1950s, this plane's square window design caused certain metal fatigue in the fuselage, resulting in explosive depressurization, structural failure, and an ultimate crash. To rectify this problem, De Havilland updated the original square window design to round windows.

At one point Kyle is in the galley with most of the plane's crew (at least all the ones we've been introduced to) and its captain. The camera takes a rotating view of Kyle and at the end of its rotation on the left-hand side, the smallest bit of "untreated" green screen is visible.C-4 detonates at about 26,400 feet per second. The explosion at the end of the movie takes over 12 seconds to breach the fuselage of the aircraft. In reality, the aircraft tail would be completely obliterated in under a second.I have never heard "Deboarding" used in any flights I have taken. The Americans use "deplane", while the British and the rest of the English speaking flying community use "disembarking". "Boarding" is used by everybody.

When Carson is taking Kyle to the bathroom, they stop outside the restroom and she holds her hands up to have him unlock the cuffs. The camera then cuts to another angle, and her hands are down.The Arabs say they were at the Hilton Tiergarten. The Hilton Hotel in Berlin is not at Tiergarten, but in the Morenstrasse, not even in the same block as Tiergarten.On the timetable in the departure hall, two flights Tokyo and Shangai have a "JP" flight code. This code is actually used by Slovenian company Adria Airways. They do not operate long-haul flights from Germany.

After the plane lands in Goose Bay, Labrador, and they are driving away in the mini van, on the license plate it says 473 EWV. On Newfoundland and Labrador license plates, the letters come before the numbers. Also, the plate is not licensed.When the French person on the screen is finished speaking, she remains there even though another language is playing.When Kyle is banging on the captain's door to speak to him she has her boarding pass in her right hand. Two shots later her hand is empty.When the oxygen masks are hanging, the camera jostles to convey turbulence but the hanging oxygen masks hang stationary and don't move.

After Kyle is knocked down by the Arab, she has a small gash on her cheek. When she's asking the stewardess later what part of the plane she searched, there is no sign of any injury. The gash resurfaces later.Plane Avionic systems have never been patched with 1/4" phono plugs as shown in he movie. All patches are also triple redundant and fail safe so that unplugging a patch doesn't affect a system without a program code change into the computer.

When Stephanie is handed the flashlight to check avionics, the lamp is above her hand. In the next shot, it is below her hand.Throughout the film, the characters refer to the passengers leaving the plane as "deboarding". In the airline industry, this is called "deplaning." Boarding a plane is called "enplaning." Peter Sarsgaard also admits to having a lifelong fear of flying.In real life, Sean Bean, who plays Captain Rich, is terrified of flying and will do it only when absolutely necessary.

The 35mm prints of this film come from a digital intermediate that has been digitally grain reduced. As a result there are digital grain reduction artifacts visible on all prints.Jodie Foster's role was originally written for Sean Penn. The original character's name of "Kyle" was even kept. Coincedently, Penn's role in The Game (1997) was originally intended for Jodie Foster.