 FACT: The hijacking begins soon after the Fasten Seat Belts sign is  turned off after takeoff. The flying time to Washington is about 8  hours. (This is confirmed by dialogue a little later.) Yet not only  during the hijacking but at every time we see the planes exterior  from then until just before reaching the US coast, the sky shows  that its still sunset. The time for a sunset to progress from  Athens to Washington is about 6.5 hours; only a supersonic plane  could keep up with it.