Tom Cruise gets ‘Grande Medaille’ for ‘significant contribution’ to aviation

Hollywood star Tom Cruise was honoured with the Grande Medaille of the Aero-Club de France for his “significant contribution to the history of aviation”. Aero-Club de France's president, Catherine Maunoury, presented him with the award for “inspiring future pilots”.

The medal is the highest distinction from the institution. The Grande Medaille was created in 1898, reported Deadline.

The Aero-Club de France posted pictures of Tom Cruise accepting the Grande Medaille in a post on X.

“Tom Cruise honoured with the Grande Médaille de l'Aéro-Club de France for his contribution to the history of aviation and for inspiring the pilots of tomorrow,” read the institution's post in French.

In December, Tom Cruise was awarded the US Navy's highest civilian honour for his “outstanding contributions to the Navy and the Marine Corps” through the Top Gun series and other films.

The actor was given the Distinguished Public Service Award by US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro in a ceremony at Longcross Studios near London. He has been working in the UK.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

Tom Cruise will next appear in Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Its teaser was released at the Super Bowl game on Sunday.

During the filming of the spy action movie, set for release on May 23, Cruise said he frequently passed out while performing a crucial stunt.

In a recent interview with the Empire magazine, Tom Cruise, 62, said he had to hang onto a plane while he was upside down at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

"When you stick your face out, going over 120 to 130 miles an hour, you’re not getting oxygen. So I had to train myself how to breathe. There were times I would pass out physically; I was unable to get back into the cockpit," he said.

The sequence, which saw the actor hanging from the wing of a 1930s Boeing Stearman biplane, was featured in the teaser trailer of the movie which was released two months ago.

From shooting an action sequence on a speeding train to skydiving and scaling the top of the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, Cruise has perhaps done it all when it comes to death-defying stunts.