Revealing mistake: At the beginning, a man is asked to put all of his metal objects into the dish. He then proceeds to remove his prosthetic hand and foot. When he removes his foot, he reaches a good six inches away from himself to pick it up. (00:03:05)
Revealing mistake: In the flashback scene in the bar, one of the girl scouts slams the other girl scout onto the floor and one can see the mat that the girl lands on. It had been covered in dirt or dust but when the girl lands it is swept away and you can see one of the corners of the mat. (00:16:40)
Revealing mistake: When the guy, who is sitting next to his wife, pukes into a bag, as he raises his head to puke again for a couple of seconds you can see directly into the barf bag and it's totally empty. (00:36:45)
Revealing mistake: Throughout the cockpit scenes, Otto's (the auto pilot) face is just painted, with no facial features sticking out. When he is about to fly the plane, he winks out the window, and turns his head. After he turns his head you can see the extra attachment on his left eye used for this. (01:22:40)
Factual error: Elaine (the stewardess) is looking for a doctor. She finds Dr. Rumack who's wearing a stethoscope. He has it on backwards. The earpieces should point forward - his are pointing backward.
Other mistake: When Johnny reads in the folded newspaper, 'There's a sale at Penny's!', the viewer can read the headlines right way up - which means, from his side, he is holding the paper upside down.
Suggested correction: It's a reasonable bet that this was done deliberately as a sight gag. Throughout the movie, Johnny is portrayed as being somewhat 'special'.
Continuity mistake: In one of the first establishing shots of the starring Boeing 707, the tailplane livery would suggest that the aircraft is a real-life Trans World Airlines (TWA) airliner with 'Trans American' and 'TA' merely painted on. However, in nearly all subsequent shots (such as that of the aircraft in the air), the tailplane design is noticeably different - the thick red square is now a thin red stripe instead. Also, a further red stripe now extends upwards over the fuselage just before the tailplane. (00:08:05 - 00:14:00)
Continuity mistake: After the landing, Striker has big sweat stains under his arms and over his chest - but when he leaves the cockpit, his back is completely dry. (01:17:31 - 01:17:59)
Continuity mistake: Ted and Elaine embrace at the very end as the camera moves around them. You can see the wheels on the plane. Seconds later as Otto takes off with it, the plane has no wheels.
Continuity mistake: When the doctor comes back to talk to Striker, you first see the man's shadow on the wall. It doesn't have an arm out. When the angle changes, you see the man's arm on the corner of the wall.
Audio problem: In the first scene where Ted and Elaine meet in the airport you can see that they have dubbed their voices in the edit.
Continuity mistake: In the scenes on the plane, the camera angle showing the seats down the left side (on the plane's right side) change from 3 seats to 2 seats, then back again. This is evident because the 2 black passengers who speak 'Jive" are seen in their seats with both 3 and 2, and not because it goes from Coach to First Class.
Revealing mistake: When the doctor is removing the eggs from the woman's mouth, he actually has them in his hand, not taking them out of her mouth. A simple sleight of hand, but still noticeable.
Continuity mistake: At the end when Elaine and Ted are standing on the runway kissing, the first shot of their plane can be seen in the background and it appears to be up off the runway on its landing gear, not lying flat on its belly. When Otto starts the engines to take off and the camera focuses back on the plane, the plane is back on it's belly like it was when it landed.
