Sydney Sweeney appears to have found a new way to compete for the title of Hollywood’s ultimate adrenaline junkie — and this time, she took the challenge into the sky.
The Euphoria star has stunned fans after sharing footage of herself standing on top of a flying biplane, strapped to the aircraft as it performed dramatic turns and rolls thousands of feet above the ground.
Her message to Tom Cruise was short and playful: “Watch out Tom Cruise.”
And the comparison isn’t accidental. Watch out her video on her Instagram account.
Sweeney Goes Full Mission: Impossible
The footage shows Sweeney positioned on the upper wing of a biplane while wearing a red safety vest and protective goggles. She is secured to the aircraft as it moves through the air, with the plane banking and rolling during the flight.
At one point, the aircraft rotates far enough to leave Sweeney temporarily upside down.
The video, apparently captured with an onboard camera, gives viewers a remarkable first-person look at what wing walking feels like — and it is difficult to watch without wondering what was keeping her attached to the aircraft.
The stunt was carried out with The Wing Walk Company, a UK-based operator that specializes in wing-walking experiences. The company responded directly to Sweeney’s Instagram post, saying: “You were brilliant….we LOVED having you!”
It Looks Insane — But There Is a Serious Safety Process Behind It
While Sweeney’s video makes the experience look almost reckless, professional wing walking is a carefully organized activity.
The Wing Walk Company says participants receive a 15-minute health-and-safety briefing before the flight. They are shown how to climb onto the aircraft’s wing rig and are briefed on what to expect during the flight and the relevant safety procedures.
The company also says participants normally have around two hours between the briefing and completion of the wing walk, followed by an airborne flight of approximately 10 minutes.
That means the terrifying-looking sequence seen in Sweeney’s video may have occupied only a small portion of the overall experience.
How Fast Was the Plane?
This is where it is important not to confuse Sweeney’s stunt with Tom Cruise’s.
The Wing Walk Company says its participants must be able to withstand wind pressures while flying at speeds of up to 120 mph.
However, there is currently no reliable public information confirming that Sweeney’s aircraft actually reached 120 mph.
Likewise, her exact altitude and airspeed have not been publicly disclosed.
So claims that she was flying at a particular speed or altitude should be treated cautiously unless the stunt team or Sweeney provides those figures.
What About the Flip?
The footage shows the aircraft rolling, which is what produces the spectacular moment when Sweeney appears upside down.
But there is an important distinction: the available reports do not establish the exact number of degrees of rotation, the precise direction of the roll, or whether every maneuver seen in the video was part of one continuous aerobatic sequence.
In other words, we can see the aircraft roll and Sweeney become inverted — but it would be speculation to claim that she performed a precisely calculated 180-degree roll in a particular direction without analyzing the original footage frame by frame.
What is clear is that Sweeney was not independently flipping herself through the air. She remained attached to the aircraft while the aircraft’s movement changed her orientation relative to the ground.
How Long Was She Actually Up There?
The best available figure comes from the operator rather than Sweeney herself.
The Wing Walk Company’s standard experience includes approximately 10 minutes of actual airborne flight.
There is currently no confirmation that Sweeney’s celebrity flight followed exactly the same schedule, however.
So the safest description is that a typical wing-walk flight with the company lasts around 10 minutes, while Sweeney’s exact flight duration has not been publicly disclosed.
And Then There’s Tom Cruise
Sweeney’s stunt immediately brings to mind one of Tom Cruise’s most famous aviation stunts in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Cruise performed a spectacular wing-walking sequence on a Stearman biplane for the 2025 film. That stunt involved the aircraft rolling and looping at reported speeds of around 140 mph and an altitude of approximately 8,000 feet.
Those numbers, however, belong to Cruise’s stunt — not Sweeney’s.
That’s what makes Sweeney’s Instagram caption so entertaining. She isn’t claiming to have duplicated Cruise’s exact stunt. She’s essentially sending Hollywood’s most famous daredevil a playful warning:
Tom Cruise might have some competition.
Sweeney Clearly Has a Taste for Adrenaline
The biplane stunt also fits with Sweeney’s recent appetite for extreme activities.
In July, she shared footage from an Australia and New Zealand trip that included bungee jumping, helicopter rides and speedboats.
She has also undergone demanding physical training for her film roles, including combat-sports preparation for Christy, in which she portrayed professional boxer Christy Martin.
So perhaps the biggest surprise isn’t that Sweeney climbed onto a flying airplane.
It’s that she apparently looked at Tom Cruise’s airborne madness and thought:
“I want to try that.”
And judging by the footage, she wasn’t joking.
This is Kyle Thomas, a professional writer, and a news editor. I started my career as a blogger who writes on various topics and then I decided that I should join a NEWS agency where I can work as a NEWS reporter. So, I joined a renowned agency in the town as an internet and after getting 2 years of experience, now I am working as a senior NEWS reporter for The Daily NEWS Times.
