Crew members experienced a tragic event on the last day of filming. On September 11, 2015, stunt pilot Alan D. Purwin and his Venezuelan co-pilot, Carlos Berl, were killed when their small, twin-engine Aerostar plane crashed during foggy conditions in the Andes, near Medellin, Colombia. The pilots had just finished their work on the film prior to the crash, which left a sole survivor, Jimmy Lee Garland, who suffered serious injury. Ten minutes before the fatal crash, Tom Cruise had been aboard a helicopter taking the same route in similar weather conditions as the ill-fated flight.
Barry Seal looked nothing like Tom Cruise. He was a big heavy-set guy nicknamed "El Gordo" by members of the Medellin Cartel, which translates to "the fat one".
JB, Barry Seal's wife's brother, is a fictional character. The real Barry Seal had no such brother-in-law.
Doug Liman has described the film as "a fun lie based on a true story."