Principal photography began in June 2013 in Atlanta , Georgia . Shortly before the film 's release , it was discovered that the footage turned in to Paramount featured 2 seconds of a real-life plane crash . Although sources differ on where the film clip was from , Paramount has said the footage is of a 2009 crash while the '' Air Force Times '' reported that footage was " nearly identical " to a 1994 incident that happened at Fairchild Air Force Base , and two of the 1994 crash victim 's families claimed that it was indeed the same footage . Upon learning about this , producer Michael Bay publicly apologized stating that when he saw the footage he thought it was a special effect shot and asked Paramount to remove the footage from the film
1994 incident
1994 Fairchild Air Force Base B-52 crash
Project Almanac