GRAND PRAIRIE (WBAP/KLIF) — The city of Grand Prairie has a major part in the newest Mission: Impossible film, but you may not know it.
Airbus Helicopters, which is based in Grand Prairie, provided helicopters for “Mission: Impossible- Fallout” and hosted Tom Cruise himself so that he could learn to fly them.
Cruise does all of his own stunts, and even got his pilot’s license for the film.
Chris Emerson, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, told WFAA-TV even though they’re not in the business of training stunt actors, Cruise isn’t the first to train at company HQ. “He’s just one of 2,000 students that we train every year,” says Emerson. “We’re excited that we were able to afford that opportunity.”
The H125 Cruise flies in the film was specially altered for the movie, so that the audience can see that Cruise himself is at the controls. Airbus, Inc provided three for the movie. The company’s chief instructional pilot, Tim McAdams, even went on location with the crew to New Zealand for the shoot.
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” opened on Friday.
ROBYN GESKE, KLIF/WBAP, COPYRIGHT © 2018
