In the opening scene, the various military alert levels are referred to as "ROUND HOUSE," "COCKED PISTOL," etc. These designations are only used during exercises, to ensure that there is no confusion as to whether an actual change in alert status is being ordered. However, in an actual crisis, such as the one depicted, the statuses would be referred to by their DEFCON (Defense Condition) numbers, from DEFCON 5 (for peacetime readiness) up to DEFCON 1 (for maximum readiness, i.e., war).
The computer readout shows data about the first nuclear detonation. It states that the yield was 500 000 Megatons. The largest detonation in human history was the Soviet "Tsar Bomba" at 50 MT, an unusually large demonstration device. 500 000 MT would be more than the combined yield of all weapons on Earth.
"Commercial traffic" is no valid reason not to pull the curtains across the cockpit windows. The plane is fully capable of flying by instruments alone in any and all conditions. The pilots are fully qualified for instrument flight rules, and in the dead of night, IFR are mandatory anyway.
The view of the aircraft carrier is reversed, as the angled deck is on the wrong side of the ship. Also, this makes the ship's hull number 18, which was the USS Wasp, not the USS Midway (CVB-41). If the image was not reversed, the hull number would be 81, which has not been built as of the year 2007.
The initial 'false flag' nuclear attack is first discovered by an air traffic controller in Erzurum, Turkey. However, even in the 1990s, ATC already mainly used secondary surveillance radar (SSR). In contrast to primary radar, SSR does not pick up reflections of the actual radio signal its transmitter sends out. Rather, it triggers responses from transponders in the aircraft. A nuclear missile does not have a transponder and cannot be picked up by SSR. There are primary radar backup systems but they don't have the power to pick up a nuclear missile at over 200 miles as shown. By the time a ballistic missile came across the ATC primary radar site, it would already be too high in space to be picked up.
A rationale for the sinking of the aircraft carrier is never provided, given Russia's demonstrated attempt to scale back the conflict.
When the presidents chopper is about to crash the pilot radios "Mayday Marine One going down," but the wreckage on the ground says "Army". However, any helicopter that contains the president is referred to as "Marine One," regardless of the markings. The same is true for the term "Air Force One" regarding fixed wing aircraft.
In the cast credits, the character that reads "Lt Hooker" should read "Sgt Hooker"? After Maj O'Toole's death, Maj Cassidy tells Sgt Hooker that he has just received the first battlefield commission of this war, which means he is now a Second Lieutenant.
During a scene aboard Air Force One, the clocks on the wall
(supposed to depict the times of different major cities around the world) all show vastly different times. Time zones by and large only differ on the hour, the few half-hour zones including Delhi and Newfoundland, so the minute hands on the clocks should at least mostly all have been in the same position, with only the hour hands being on different positions.
In 1990, women were not permitted to fly U.S. combat aircraft, including the B-52 Stratofortress. This policy would not be lifted until 1994.
A cable is visible, attached to one of the crewman as he is sucked out of the B52.
The computer map of Central and Eastern Europe, as shown on the great display (ca. 7:55) has at least three errors. First, the central part of the map (including Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria) is somewhat squished and out-of-proportions (most notably, it caused Warsaw to move significantly south from its actual position, and both Poland and Austria's borders are visibly different from their actual shapes). Second, and probably the most glaring error, is that according to that map, distance from Warsaw to Berlin and from Warsaw to Moscow is roughly the same; this locates Moscow somewhere in midwestern Belarus (!), as the distance from Warsaw to Moscow is at least 2.5 times bigger than from Warsaw to Berlin. A minor error is that Russian (now Ukrainian) city of Kharkov is misspelled as "Kharov".
The SAC Alert facility at Fairchild AFB, Washington is located at the end of the runway, adjacent to the flight line area, and is not surrounded by trees.
There was no need for the pilot of Air Force One to turn into the path of the pursuing plane. He could simply have pulled up and placed the airplane into a fatal stall (or done a nose-dive) and allowed the other crew to survive. The rest of the crew would not have time to forcibly remove the pilots from the cockpit because putting the plane into a vertical dive would throw everyone not strapped in onto the ceiling and the plane would be irrecoverable within seconds, long before anyone would be able to react.
Rebecca De Mornay's character, Moredau, is blinded in her right eye from looking directly at an atomic bomb detonation early in the movie (she shield's her left eye with her hand). Yet throughout the rest of the movie the damaged eye moves, focuses, acts as if it is not damaged at all.