How did Tom Cruise do that plane stunt in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation?

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How Tom Cruise Did That Insane Plane Stunt For Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

How did this stunt actually get done? The star and director Christopher McQuarrie have revealed all in a recent interview.

The filmmaker explained,

"While searching for different locations, the production designer James Bissell bought me a model of this Airbus airplane and presented it as something we could use in the movie. I suggested to Tom, ‘What if you were on the outside of this thing when it took off?' I meant it as sort of a half joke, but he said back to me, ‘Yeah I could do that!’"

From there it was all about figuring out a way to attach a camera to the side of the airplane that would A) get an appropriate angle on the shot, and B) not detach during take-off and smash into Tom Cruise. The actor met with not just a test pilot, but the guys who created the A400m Airbus, and made sure that everything was doable and safe.

There's also a video in the post showing the stunt performed.

This clip from youtube clearly explains how the stunt was performed, it was only images but it shows everything about the stunt you want to know.

Here he is talking about it on Jimmy Fallon...

He did 8 takes, and was really strapped on the outside of the plane.

Of course there's no way that Cruise wasn't wearing a securing harness - it simply wouldn't make sense not to - so I'm quite sure he didn't need to maintain a grip on those hand-holds to prevent himself from falling to his death! Also, as others have said, the A400M will be able to take off at relatively low speeds since it's a STOL aircraft - the military has conducted tests to determine what its Vmu (minimum 'unstick' speed) is, but I couldn't find the results of those.

It's worth noting that recreational skydivers routinely hang on to the outside of aircraft as a means of making room in the door for others while the plane is making its jump run, so allowing everyone to exit in as tight a group as possible. Those jump planes are often flying at 70mph or more while this is happening, because the pilot keeps the power on in order to prevent a stall. Obviously the aircraft doesn't take off with people hanging on the outside, but the principle is similar.