Hollywood action star Tom Cruise has shared that he has always been an adventurous person, which is evident from the extreme stunt sequences he performs in his movies. Despite his immense success over the course of his decades-long career, the actor has also been surrounded by several controversies for several things. Many have come out to claim that the Mission Impossible star has a bad temper and there have also been claims about Cruise making his co-stars feel uncomfortable.
One notable incident adding to such conversations about the actor occurred during his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, as he hysterically laughed while recalling disabling the oxygen of his co-passenger on a plane.
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Tom Cruise Recalled Disabling Co-Passenger’s Oxygen Off
Hollywood star Tom Cruise is known for his avid enthusiasm for adventures, one of them also being flying. The actor is a licensed pilot with qualifications as a multi-engine instrument-rated pilot and has a collection of airplanes as well.
During an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, he recalled an incident that happened on his flight to Colorado. He shared that they ascended to a higher level due to better conditions, only to realize that they could not remain at that altitude without using oxygen, which they did not have enough to last.
As a solution to this issue, he and his co-pilot decided to turn off the oxygen supply to a fellow passenger who was flying with them. “I had a passenger in the back, so we figured—that if we turn the oxygen off from the back guy, then we could make it at this altitude,” he recalled.
He further described the passenger as someone who they preferred to be “asleep” during the flight. With the lack of oxygen at the higher altitude, the passenger remained asleep throughout the journey. The talk show host, however, did not appear too amused with the Top Gun star’s narrative, leading him to question the appropriateness of Cruise’s actions.
David Letterman Did Not Seem Too Amused With Tom Cruise’s Actions
While the idea of deliberately turning off the oxygen of a passenger is far from amusing, the talk show host, David Letterman, did not seem too comfortable with the actor’s uncontrollable laughter while recalling the incident. Cruise’s hysterical laughter rendered him nearly incapable of speaking coherently, prompting Letterman to pose a serious question.
“But honestly, looking at it from another direction, isn’t that attempted manslaughter? You just turned a guy’s oxygen off. You’re lucky you’re not doing time, for the love of God.”
However, the actor shared that the altitude was not that high to pose a risk of “death,” but it did induce numbness in the extremities. When the passenger woke up upon landing, he told them how his hands were all “tingling.” Upon ensuring that the passenger was safe, Letterman eventually joined in with Cruise’s laughter.
