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Broken Arrow - S2-E9

Factual error: An unidentified airplane has crossed into Canadian airspace. The pilot flying right seat orders the left seat pilot to climb to 15,000 feet. This in itself is odd, because the Aircraft Commander flies the left seat, and bombers would be much higher than that in the first place. The pilot advances four throttles to initiate the climb, typical of a four engine reciprocating engine plane. When we see an outside shot what is shown is a twin engine jet aircraft. And the interior shots of the wreckage later are also wrong for the era too. (00:02:00)

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Factual error: There is celebration in Little Italy. A police officer is trying to stop a shooter, and his uniform has a 12 on the collar, signifying supposedly the 12th Precinct of the NYPD. There's no 12th precinct in the NYPD. The real 12th precinct was abolished in 1916, and the building was used as a police storehouse after that. (01:38:35)

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Factual error: Frank boards a Cessna 421C twin-engine airplane. The pilot "starts" the engines, but only one is heard. You would have to go through startup procedures for two engines. Worse, it starts up instantly, but the mixture controls for both engines are at idle-cutoff, and both throttles are at full power. Not the procedure you use to start an engine, let alone two. (02:34:50)

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He kohu puahiohio i ka ho'olele i ka lepo i luna - S10-E17

Factual error: Thieves make off with 10 million dollars transferred to an offshore bank. The money is shown supposedly in a medium-sized black satchel carried in one hand by one of the accomplices. The largest US bill in circulation is the $100 bill. And one million dollars in $100 bills weigh 22 pounds. So ten million would weigh 220 pounds. There is no way that amount would fit in such a satchel, and much less be carried around dangling by one hand.

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Kid + Plane + Cable + Truck - S4-E3

Factual error: A US Pilot's License is shown. It is pretty much all wrong. Salient among the errors is that US Pilot's Licenses do not have a picture. The nationality should be USA not America. They are green fading to white, and not blue. It does not have a hologram of the FAA seal. The signature on the front is that of the pilot and not the FAA Administrator. I realise that it would be improper to show an actual license on a TV show, but this is so far off as to be ludicrous. (00:02:20)

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The Men in Black - S2-E5

Factual error: An assistant to the Captain is wearing an Air Force uniform (as she should be). But it has no stripes on the sleeves. This would denote an Airman Basic. But no Airman Basic is going to be in an administrative position. (00:14:10)

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Hopkinsville - S2-E4

Factual error: Dr. Hynek's wife dials a phone number to contact a club member. She dials four digits. Four digit telephone numbers were in use in the 1910s, and five digit numbers in the 1920s. By the 1950s, when this show takes place, there were even area codes and seven digit numbers already in use. (00:16:40)

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Show generally

Factual error: A Marine Corps general is visiting Project Phoenix. His ribbons are mostly not USMC authorized and those that are are pretty much out of order. Second, his four star insignias on the collar are way too high. They should be midway on the collar. (00:03:55)

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The Roswell Incident - Part I - S2-E1

Factual error: General Harding is asked what will happen to a civilian caught trying to fight the Air Force air police personnel. He responds that he will go to a military tribunal. That is not correct. First of all, the defendant is a civilian and not subject to military authority. This has been so since 1866 when the Supreme Court ruled such a venue unconstitutional. Of note, the incident took place outside of Federal jurisdiction. So, no, he would would have to be turned over to civilian authorities and tried under civilian jurisdiction. (00:37:45)

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The Roswell Incident - Part I - S2-E1

Factual error: General Harding continues to walk around out of uniform, with just his hat showing any kind of Air Force affiliation. General officers have three pairs of clouds and lightning bolts (colloquially known as "farts and darts") on either side of the bill. The show shows him using one with only two pairs per side. What he is wearing is appropriate only for Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels. He is using a nondescript khaki shirt with absolutely NO rank on it. No distinctive insignia or decorations at all. While this shirt is authorized when worn with the service coat, it is not authorized for use alone.

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Factual error: When Grace is fighting the controls of the C-5 cargo aircraft there is a shot of part of the instrument panel. Among the items on the panel is a switch labeled "tail rotor quadrant." The C-5 does not have a tail rotor. Helicopters do. (01:35:00)

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Desperate Measures - S2-E12

Factual error: Continuing the crossover with Hawaii Five-0, the CIA is supposedly searching people's homes, holding hostages, threatening to kill them if an SD card is not produced. This is not what the CIA does. They gather intelligence overseas, not domestically. And they are not a law enforcement agency. The FBI handles matter within the US.

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Ihea 'oe i ka wa a ka ua e loku ana? - S10-E12

Factual error: A CIA officer stops McGarrett and companions from entering a house to make an arrest. The mistakes here are numerous: 1 - The "CIA officers" have protective vests that say "CIA" on them. No such thing. 2 - They are carrying weapons. Only officers in the Security Protective Service and those officers in a war zone carry weapons. 3 - The CIA is not a law enforcement agency. The FBI handles matters domestically. 4 - The CIA's responsibility is to collect intelligence and information overseas. Last I looked, Hawaii was part of the United States. (00:33:10)

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Ihea 'oe i ka wa a ka ua e loku ana? - S10-E12

Factual error: Higgins gets counterintelligence documents from an operative. The document says "CLASSIFIED" at the top. A real document would have the actual classification, e.g., TOP SECRET - NOFORN; SECRET, etc. on it and not the word "classified." To make matters worse, at the bottom the word is misspelled "CLASSAFIED" (00:27:30)

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Ihea 'oe i ka wa a ka ua e loku ana? - S10-E12

Factual error: McGarrett and Magnum pull up to a house in the Ferrari. Sound effects are squealing brakes. Brembo Ferrari brakes do not squeal, especially at such a slow speed. (00:14:55)

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Day I Met the Devil - S2-E11

Factual error: A taxi pulls up to a private jet at an airport in Hawaii. A public taxi cannot just pull up to an aircraft at an airport. It needs clearance to access airside areas. (00:21:05)

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Ka 'i'o - S10-E7

Factual error: The plane taking McGarrett from Panama to Mexico purports to be owned by a Mexican fishing company. But the registration number on the plane starts with an N and has 5 numbers and a letter. First of all, a Mexican aircraft would not have a registration number starting with an N. That is reserved for aircraft of US registry. All that aside, the registration number is invalid. US aircraft have at most five characters after the N. The registration - as I suspected - was shown to be in an invalid format when queried in the Federal Aviation Administration database. (00:11:18)

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Ka 'i'o - S10-E7

Factual error: McGarrett is reviewing a brief on a suspected cartel operative. He shows a picture and says it is called a "tela de araña" saying it is a spider web. Wrong. A spider web in Spanish is a "telaraña", all one word. (00:05:13)

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Ka 'i'o - S10-E7

Factual error: A man gets out of his car and identifies himself as a Special Agent. He shows McGarrett a badge and an ID card identifying him as a Special Agent of the CIA. There is no such thing. The CIA does not have Special Agents. They have Operations Officers. And it would be extremely unlikely they would have a badge, as they are not law enforcement officers. (00:01:45)

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Factual error: Dr. Fielding is dead inside the JPL building. His blood is dripping onto a telegraph key and it is sending perfectly comprehensive Morse Code. The blood drips are too random to do that. (01:13:25)

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