Although objected by authorities afterwards, the maneuvers shown were really done. First was a Tunneau and just after a spin, with the dead body of the first officer falling over the controls making harder the recovery of the flight. The Boeing was a 737-300.
Based on true events that took place on September 29, 1988.
Then president, José Sarney never formally recognized Fernando Murilo de Lima e Silva, the pilot that prevented the Raimundo Notato's intended disaster. Sarney was born in the Brazilian northeastern state of Maranhão, like the hijacker himself. This likely added to the hijacker's alleged resentment towards Sarney.
VASP is no longer in activity since 2008, when it bankrupted.
At the conclusion of the film, a surprising fact: the crime committed by Nonato and its consequences influenced the attack of September 11, 2001 in the United States. Authorities who dismantled the bunker of Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda and responsible for devising the plan in question, found newspaper clippings describing the hijacking of Flight 375, scattered around the terrorist's hideout.