Your opinions on the portrayal of "the passenger charge, etc."

Rating: Null/10 (13 June 2006)

****SPOILERS*********
Finally saw it last Thursday night... last night in town in any theatre... wanted to see it on the big screen.
Thought it was brilliant... up to a point. If someone who saw it can answer these questions for me, I'll give it five stars.
And yes, I know "nobody truly knows exactly what happened," but these things just didn't make sense.
1. When the passenger charge took place and the first few guys got to the guy with the fake bomb, why did they pound on him for as long as they did? I didn't time it, but it seemed like over a minute. Their plan was to get the passenger who said he was a pilot into the cockpit ASAP.
2. Why did "news of this pounding" cause the guy who had been piloting the plane so skillfully to all of a sudden flip completely out and/or totally lose his cool and his control of the plane? 3. Do you think the director was trying to portray that the pilot was manipulating the airplane's control surfaces in an attempt to make it more difficult for the passengers to continue their charge... and he stalled it?