The aircraft the Search and Rescue crew fly is a Grumman HU-16 Albatross, a large twin engine anphibious flying boat that was used by the US Air Force (USAF), US Navy (USN) and the US Coast Guard (USCG), primarily as a search and rescue aircraft. It normally has a crew of 4-6 and an operational range of 2,850 miles.
Gilligan calls the Skipper "Captain Bligh." This is an allusion to the 1932 novel Mutiny on the Bounty. The novel was made into two movies at the time of the series that the castaways could have seen: the 1935 version and the 1962 version.
This is the only later episode to acknowledge the destruction of the SS Minnow in "Goodbye, Island". The search pilots didn't see her on the beach.
Gilligan calls the Skipper "Mr. Dillon." This is an allusion to the famous sheriff of Gunsmoke, which was a radio show and also another C.B.S. television series. Chester calls Marshall Matt Dillon "Mr. Dillon."
This is the second time The Professor has a nose injury, the first time was A Nose by Any Other Name, where he gets a swollen nose, but unlike A Nose By Any Other Name, his nose in this episode is just bleeding, and it's not swollen.