IDEAS: How Etihad Airways Pulled Off Its Mission Impossible Skydiving Stunt

Etihad Airways has released a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the filming of its skydiving orchestra.

The original video, which was created as part of the carrier's partnership with Paramount Pictures to celebrate the premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, saw an orchestra fall from 13,000 feet at 120mph whilst playing the Mission Impossible theme song.

The campaign was released across Etihad Airways' social media platforms in July, which you can take a look at below:

To complete the stunt, Etihad Airways and their advertising agency Impact BBDO had to 'do the impossible' - find talented musicians who are also skilled skydivers.

But following weeks of planning and preparation, custom rigging was created for each instrument to ensure the skydiving orchestra could safely play and pull their parachute when the time came, and a professional skydiving cinematographer jumped with them each time to capture it all.

Each member of the orchestra was tasked with learning their piece of music by heart, which they needed to be able to recite perfectly despite the unconventional conditions.

You can take a look at the behind-the-scenes footage from the Etihad Airways YouTube below: