Tom Cruise Pushes His Body to the Limit During High-Risk Biplane Stunt For ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’

Daredevil Tom Cruise cheated death while filming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning after nearly getting stuck on the wing of a biplane shortly before the aircraft ran out of fuel, according to the flick’s director.

Moviemaker Christopher McQuarrie recently recounted the scary sequence, which took place over South Africa, while speaking to an audience at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cruise, who famously pushes himself to do his own extreme stunts, chose to float between the wings of the plane in zero gravity — even after hearing words of warning from professionals.

McQuarrie explained being outside of an aircraft takes a toll on the body because of the impact of the wind at 140 mph and the difficulty of breathing — so it is considered safe for only 12 minutes, max. He added, “It’s literally like two hours in the gym.”

Still McQuarrie said Cruise, 62, indicated that he wanted to continue filming the high-altitude acrobatics after the 12-minute mark had passed — and did so for another 10.

“There was a moment where Tom had pushed himself to the point that he was so physically exhausted, he couldn’t get back up off the wing,” the director recalled. “He was lying on the wing of the plane, his arms were hanging over the front. We could not tell if he was conscious or not.”

At that point, the pilot indicated that he had only three minutes of fuel left — but the plane couldn’t land with Cruise lying on the wing.

“We watched Tom as he pulled himself up and stuck his head in the cockpit, so that he could replenish the oxygen in his body and then climb up into the cockpit,” McQuarrie marveled. “No one on earth can do that but Tom.”

The Top Gun flyboy, who had joined McQuarrie onstage, assured the crowd, “I don’t mind encountering the unknown.”