EXCLUSIVE: Tom Cruise hangs off upside-down plane filming heart-pounding Mission Impossible scenes

Tom Cruise dangled from a plane flying upside-down as he filmed heart-stopping scenes for the upcoming Mission Impossible.

The 62-year-old Hollywood star didn’t appear to wear a parachute as he held onto the aircraft throughout the nail-biting stunt. Pictures obtained by the Mirror show the terrifying moment the bright yellow propeller plane rotated, leaving Tom clinging onto the wing.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning crew watched as the Stearman biplane flew close to the camera crew’s helicopter for the scary shoot in Oxfordshire. Tom was joined by the movie’s bad guy Gabriel, played by actor Esai Morales, and of course the daredevil pilot.

It’s thought the pilot will be digitally removed from the scene when the film comes out as snaps show them dressed in an all-green. “When the plane flips upside down, Cruise – who did not appear to be wearing a parachute – is left hanging off it,” a source said.

“The characters appeared to be filming a fight scene where they grapple with one another before the plane turns upside down. The pilot was dressed all in green, suggesting he will be removed from the scene and Cruise and Morales will be the only ones in the plane.”

His stunt comes after Tom has revealed a painful injury following his weekend partying at Glastonbury earlier this month. He managed to take time out of his busy schedule to head to Worthy Farm where he was spotted among a string of other A-List stars.

But now it appears the star suffered an injury as he arrived in London a couple of weeks ago. He looked in good spirits as he arrived at a helipad in Battersea. Tom donned a long-sleeve black jumped and a pair of blue jeans. He also wore a pair of aviator-style sunglasses and at one point flashed a thumbs up to photographers from the front seat of the chopper. The actor appeared to have sustained an injury on his right hand as a close up seen by Metro revealed a pink graze around his knuckle.

It is no secret that Tom likes to get stuck in when on set. He is often credited for doing his own stunts and is set to perform underwater for the upcoming film. Most of the film has been shot in the UK, much of it at Surrey’s Longcross Studios.

Tom brought Mission: Impossible, a hit TV series from the Sixties, to the big screen in 1996. The last instalment, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was out last summer and featured a submarine that is blown up and sinks. The next offering will revisit the submarine 10 years later.