Or maybe he just wanted out of the movie...

Yeah, funny how the missing engine didn't affect the flight. I like to spot detail issues, too. I remember thinking, in Walk in the Woods (which I did like, just because it was a good buddy movie that accidentally included backpacking), when Redford and Nolte fell into the creek, that they probably wouldn't have fallen if their hiking poles had been in their hands instead of lashed to their packs.