Other mistake: Towards the end when Dennis Hopper is on the subway train with Sandra Bullock, he has a gun in one hand and the detonator in the other. However, when the camera cuts to a close-up of him handcuffing Sandra to the pole, both hands are empty. If he took his hand off the detonator, the explosives attached to Sandra should've exploded, but they didn't. In the next shot, both items are back in his hand. (01:39:50)
Visible crew/equipment: When the police officers on the LAX vehicle are attempting to rescue all the passengers by driving up beside the bus, there's a camera angle between the bus and LAX vehicle, as the people are jumping out of the bus onto the LAX vehicle. If you look closely, you can see camera crew reflections on the rear bus fender, and also a man sitting wearing a white shirt with sunglasses reflected in the window of the open LAX vehicle door.
Continuity mistake: At the airport the black sign on the side of the bus disappears for one shot. (01:09:00)
Audio problem: When Jack tells the bad guy he wants to get off the bus, he says "it's not against the rules." The bad guy then says "All right, but I want you back real fast." Look at his mouth while he says the line. You can see that the talking isn't similar to the moving mouth. This is because Dennis Hopper originally said "in ten minutes" instead of "real fast." Since Jack was gone longer than 10 minutes, the line was re-dubbed to something less specific. (01:10:37)
Visible crew/equipment: When Jack is trying to pry open the subway train's doors, a boom mic can be seen mounted on the car's interior, suspended from the ceiling. (01:40:30)
Visible crew/equipment: In several shots of Tuneman in the Jaguar, you can see the camera and its lights reflected in his sunglasses.
Continuity mistake: When Dennis Hopper psyches the police chief out by making him think he's on the third floor, the elevator clicks one too many times. The camera shows the numbers: "5, click, 4, click" then it switches to the police chief, during which time you hear another click. It then switches back to the numbers: "3, click." Shouldn't it be on floor 2? (00:20:50)
Factual error: When the bus is driving over the gap in the freeway, it jumps off at an angle. And when it lands, it lands close to perfection. If the bus landed at the same angle it jumped off on, the bus would either tip over or the 2 tyres would burst.
Revealing mistake: When Jack and Annie are getting off the bus via the access panel on the floor, you can see wheels on the bottom of it. (01:30:00)
Plot hole: When they get Sam the driver off the bus and onto the trailer, it's stressed how important it is to get him to hospital, but in all subsequent scenes, the trailer never leaves the side of the bus and no-one takes Sam off.
Suggested correction: It is unlikely, but they could have transferred him a second time to another vehicle off-screen.
It could've happened during the scene where the older scared woman was trying to leave the bus, and the cops told her to "grab my hand." They KNOW the hostages leaving the bus risks the bomb going off, and they still tried to get that lady off. It's literally these cops' first day on the job.
Continuity mistake: When they run onto the roof near the start, there's another trooper behind Harry running onto the roof (only visible in widescreen - in 4:3 it looks like a weird reflection). In the following shot of Keanu Reeves you can see the reflections of Harry and the other guy on the plastic covering the scaffolding. We're led to believe that Harry and Jack should be the only ones up there, as everyone else has a job to do. Aside from those two shots, this third trooper disappears once they start hooking the crane up. (00:11:30)
Visible crew/equipment: After Lieutenant McMahon requests to be flown to the 105 freeway interchange, a camera operator can be seen standing beside an overpass column when the bus and police escort drive by. (00:52:50)
Factual error: The bomber demanded his money by 11am, so the sun should be high in the sky toward the end of the bus situation. However, in many shots at the airport and after, there are long shadows, indicating either sunrise or sunset.
Character mistake: At the airport, when Jack is under the bus on the trolley being towed by the truck, an accident causes all the cable on the winch reel to pay out. At this point all that's holding the cable to the reel is a small metal clamp. Jack slews around under the bus for a while, in grave danger of being run over by the vehicle's rear wheels, and then the clamp gives way (in slow motion). The now-free cable shoots toward the bus, and Jack pulls himself off the trolley just as it goes under the rear wheel. If you look at the shot where the cable is flying toward the bus, you can see two SWAT guys standing on the back of the truck, on either side of the winch. Their posture is completely relaxed and casual. Considering that for the past several seconds, Jack has been sliding around under the bus, fighting for his life, wouldn't the SWAT guys be much more excited--moving around, trying to get a better look, giving instructions to the truck's driver?
Visible crew/equipment: The side camera is visible in a couple of shots when the bus has to make the tight right turn, after the bus returns all the wheels to the ground, as it smashes into the cop car. (00:45:20)
Visible crew/equipment: As the end credits are starting, tracks used for a camera dolly can be seen along the left side next to the buildings. (01:50:55)
Visible crew/equipment: When Payne is going crazy on the subway train, and starts shooting his gun at Jack on the roof, in one shot before Jack drops his gun, you can see a camera come in the shot. (01:42:50)
Visible crew/equipment: When Jack is running alongside the subway train trying to find a way in, a camera and its operator can be seen on the window's interior reflection. (01:40:20)
Revealing mistake: At the end, when the empty bus rams the freight plane, the wire pulling the bus can be seen. Most obviously in the low shot shortly before impact, where there are several wires/shadows on the ground leading towards a fixed point in the runway beyond the plane.
Continuity mistake: On the subway train where Payne opens the money bag, a dye pack goes off and leaves a purple stain on the dead man's handle. But moments later in the shot where Payne stops firing his machine gun at the ceiling, the stain has vanished. (01:42:35)
