 ( music playing )
David: Ever since I was a kid,
 I've dreamed of flying.
When I was five years old,
my mom took me to see a movie
about a boy that floats away
on a bunch of balloons.
 It inspired my love of
 levitation and magic for sure.
- Yo!
- ( gasps )
( crowd reacting )
 I've never forgotten
 that image,
 and now I'm gonna make it
 a reality
 by holding onto a bunch
 of balloons
 and flying as high
 as I can possibly go.
What I want to do
is I want to grab that
rig of balloons
and I want to go floating
all the way up into the sky
 It might seem simple,
 but in reality there are
 some serious risks.
( balloons popping )
 If there's a balloon failure
 before I put on my parachute,
 I can go crashing
 to the ground.
If he doesn't put on
his parachute, he dies.
- So that's the switch.
- No, no.
 And for me,
the most dangerous part of this
 is landing safely.
man:
Shut her down, all the way.
No. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
 I've never had to land
 on terrain
 that's this difficult
 in my life.
 But at the same time,
 I'm so excited to pull
 this off.
Looks good.
Wind's perfect.
Don's just launching
a fly ball up there.
So I'm looking for this
on my left, this on my right.
- Let me just put this in.
- You think it's fine?
It will be.
 ( music playing )
We're not letting him go yet,
guys.
- I love you.
- Yes.
That's gonna take me up.
Will you spin me?
( cheering )
man:
Everybody out from
underneath him.
So we're heading in
a different direction
than we anticipated for now.
Wow. Wow.
That is amazing.
Luke: 4,500 right now.
 It looks crazy.
 I do.
 ( laughing )
 This is the fun part,
 and then it's gonna get real
 here at some point.
 This is going right over
 this most unbelievable view
 in the world.
It doesn't even look
like I'm on Earth.
It's amazing.
I'm at 5,150.
Okay, that is now hanging
up here,
but that's--
there we go. Good.
That's that.
Okay.
Luke: We got eyes on the sleeve.
 We'll be able to grab that.
The parachute's coming down.
Wow, it's tight.
( grunts )
Okay.
All right.
( grunts )
- Okay. Bag-- I'm holding
  parachute firmly.
- Luke: It's a great time.
 And you're right at the
 airport, we'll be able
 to pick that up.
Okay, bag is down.
( chuckles )
- Luke: Perfect. We got eyes on
  the bag. It's right here. 
- That's wild. Okay.
Now I'm inspecting
the parachute.
So first, I'm gonna pull one
and hold parachute firmly.
Okay, now I'm carefully grabbing
parachute,
checking it.
We're good.
Arm one is in.
Here's arm--
arm two is in.
That's that.
Okay.
Now I'm gonna connect
chest strap.
Luke: Chest strap over
 camera arm on top of it.
Yep. Chest strap over camera.
Good.
Next is leg strap
number one.
Whew.
Okay, yep.
Luke: Take your time, man.
 Nice and slow. Slow is fast.
( groans )
Okay, leg strap number one.
I have it.
Luke:
 Can I get an altitude on him
 right now?
( grunts, groans )
Luke: You're doing great, David.
 Lots of time. 8,200 feet,
- so we're doing great. 
- Okay. Okay.
- Luke: 4,000 above the ground,
  lots of time. 
- Leg strap number two.
This one...
Huh. Okay.
- Luke: Much better. 
- Something's a little--
  ( grunts )
Okay, whoo.
Ha!
Leg strap number two
is now...
( grunts )
officially connected.
I'm gonna check if we're good.
We're good, we're good.
I'm gonna remove the safety
right now.
Safety is now off.
We're set.
Luke: I would love to get
 a pulse-ox reading on you now
 before it starts
 to get thin up there,
 if you have time.
Pulse oximeter coming on.
Luke: Once you get a reading,
 if you could,
 hold it in front of
 the camera lens,
 if it's--
 if you're able to.
Oxygen started low,
but now it's climbing.
Heart rate at 145,
pulse oximeter at 93
and climbing.
I'm not gonna talk
for a minute just to get it up.
Luke: So this is where David's
 doing his breathing technique
 to try to adjust
 his oxygen.
 It was low when he put it on
 and then brought it back up,
 but he's on about
 12,000 feet.
Can you see it?
It's upside down though.
Luke: Yeah,
 keep holding it there.
 I'm trying to get an angle
 on it.
 It's really difficult
 in the sun, but...
 You're going 13 miles an hour
 across the ground,
 and you're going up
 at 500 feet a minute.
- David: Okay.
- Luke: So you're all fine. 
  Everything's safe.
 I'm gonna turn you over
 to Dessa,
 and then I'll come back to you
when it's time to do an oxygen.
- Hey.
- How are you?
- Good. And you?
- Yeah, great.
I'm really, really good.
Dessa: How many feet do you
 think you're gonna go up?
Um, we're at 16,000 now.
- ( exhales deeply )
- Yeah.
And... we're probably
gonna go up
to where the airplanes go.
That means I'm going into
a Class A airspace.
- I gotta focus now. Love you.
  It's time.
- All right, be safe. Showtime.
- Love you.
- Me, too. Love you. Bye.
Luke:
 So we're at about 15,000 feet.
 This is where I would like
 to see you, uh,
 pull that oxygen down and take
 some breaths of O2 here.
I'm still good.
I'm still perfect.
Luke: You know that's
 the first symptom of hypoxia,
 right? Confidence?
No. No, no.
I'm 100% perfect.
Luke: And I've just been
 informed you're cleared into
 Class A airspace.
I'm good?
I'm good to go into Class A?
- Luke: You're good to go into
  Class A, which is crazy. 
- Wow.
Luke: You have about half
 the oxygen you do here on the
 ground up there above 18.
We are at 19,400.
Let me cross 20.
20 and it goes on.
We're at 19,700.
Luke:
 Man, it's getting real now.
 Yeah.
We're at 19,800.
Luke: Okay, David,
 if we want to hit that
 target altitude,
 we need to put the O2 on.
Okay, O2 is going on.
Luke: Give me a thumbs-up
 if you feel you're getting
 good O2 flow.
The O2 flow's terrible
up here.
Luke: Push on the back button
 on the regulator and blast it
 into your mouth.
- Okay, how high are we
  right now? 
- man: 21.
Luke: 21. So, David,
 we're through 21,000 feet.
 I want you to look down now
 and see if you can see a
 potential landing area.
 If you can,
 give me a thumbs-up.
I can see it perfectly.
I got her perfectly.
I got it, I see it.
Luke:
 Great. Looks good.
 Is there a way to know roughly
 how far away he is right now?
- David: I heard sand.
  I heard something.
- Luke: He heard sand.
I heard something,
but nothing fell yet.
Luke: David, you're breathing in
 that stuff.
 Your leg straps,
 your stirrups are still tight.
 Um, so if you can loosen them,
 loosen them.
I got, like, strap one.
Now I'm gonna try two.
Luke: And I need you to jump
 as-- whenever you're
 comfortable.
 But you're, you know,
 we're getting farther
 and farther away, so...
 24,000 feet.
 I would quit worrying
 about that right now.
- And we're releasing that-- 
- Luke, I gotta get it loose.
Luke, I gotta get it loose.
Let me get it loose, please.
I see the landing.
Luke: Remember,
 under parachute you're able
 to do it also.
I'm doing it right now.
Luke: There you go.
 Great. Looks good. Great.
Hold on, hold on.
Luke: You did a handle check,
 so you're good.
 Release the safety
 whenever you're ready.
 All right, David,
 it looks good, man.
 It's all you.
 We're gonna shut up
 and let you do your thing.
 Open at 7,000 feet.
 Here he goes, guys.
 Come on, buddy.
 ( clapping )
 Here we go.
 Let's do it.
 He's clean, he's clear.
 It's on you.
- A couple good hits.
 24, 24. 
- Here we go.
all: Whoa!
Can you-- can you hear me?
Luke: Yeah, I can hear you.
 I can hear you, David.
- I got you. I hear you.
- Luke: Great.
 That's awesome. You got me.
 Great job, buddy.
 How are you looking?
 Do you see the landing area?
It's far.
Luke: It's far.
 Let me-- let me check.
It's far, it's far.
It's very far.
Luke: What we need you to do
 is start looking for
 a flat spot out there
 without any power lines.
 A nice, flat, open spot.
 Don't worry about coming back,
 just worry about a nice spot
 to land.
Okay.
Yeah, we're at 4,400.
Luke: 4,400 feet.
 That's what we have also.
 Looks great.
Which way is the wind going,
though?
Luke:
 Land facing the airport.
I want to land
towards the airport?
Luke: Correct.
So I'm not gonna turn.
I'm just gonna keep going
straight.
Luke: Sounds good,
 but make sure you pick
 a nice spot.
 You know, if you have to turn
and pick somewhere farther away
 that's better, do that.
Are there power lines
next to this road?
Luke: There is a skinny set
 right alongside the road.
- Okay.
- Luke: But you'll see it
 when you get lower.
 If you land parallel
 with the road and off the road
 a little bit--
Luke, we're at 20--
we're at 2,800 feet,
and we're right over
all this stuff.
- Luke: So you need to start
 looking a picking a spot. 
- It's dicey. Okay.
- Luke: And remember,
 you don't have to-- 
- I have to turn away
- from this thing.
- Luke: Correct. You don't have
 to be on the nearer road.
 Wherever you pick to land,
 we got you.
Can I land next to those
two ponds on that road
right next to it?
Luke: Correct.
 David, there's a nice ravine
 down in the bottom
 of that canyon.
 Just land in that ravine
 going with the ravine.
man: David, ahead and look
for the wash by the green pond.
Luke: Yep, he's in the wash.
 Looks great, David.
 Just pick that open wash there
 and you're good to go.
 Yep.
David, I'm on the backup radio.
 We can't hear you.
 Just land a nice big flare
 into that open ravine.
 Flare, flare, flare,
 flare, flare, flare, flare.
- Yeah! Is he down? 
- ( cheering )
 Yes!
- Yeah!
- Luke: Beautiful.
 Where's Dessa?
 Where's Dessa?
 All right,
 David, you're talking
 in the backup radio,
- backup radio, you're talking. 
- Dessa: Dad?
Wow!
That was awesome!
Here you go, put this on.
You're daddy's safe.
- Right here, you see him?
- Yeah. That was great.
- You did it!
- This is all for you.
Dessa: Thank you.
