 A miniature model of the Boeing 747 airplane was created for the explosion scene . The model , one of the most detailed miniature scenes in the film , was about 10 feet long and 7 feet wide , and the landing gear was made from all machined metals . According to visual effects supervisor Ariel Velasco Shaw , the miniature had to be launched about 40 feet up into the air to make it look like a real Boeing 747 exploded into a fireball . If blowing up a four @-@ foot plane , the explosion must be a minimum of eight feet in the air . To film the explosion in detail , the crew used three cameras running 120 frames per second and one camera running 300 frames per second ( if they had filmed using a real @-@ time camera , the succession of the explosion would not be filmed in a particular order ) . 
