Daredevil David Blaine carried out his newest stunt on Wednesday, ascending practically 25,000 ft (7,600 metres) into the Arizona sky whereas hanging from a cluster of jumbo-sized balloons earlier than parachuting safely again to earth.
“It’s like magic, it seems like I’m floating within the air,” Blaine stated on a radio to his crew of aides again on the bottom after gently lifting off from a desert airstrip in Web page, Arizona, related to dozens of balloons in an occasion he referred to as “Ascension.”
YouTube stated the stunt, which it livestreamed, set a brand new document because the most-watched YouTube Originals stay occasion ever with over 770,000 viewers.
Blaine steadily dropped small weights to hurry his ascent, donned a parachute mid-flight and strapped on an oxygen masks as he neared 24,900 ft, an altitude the place most industrial airliners journey.
Blaine, 47, has a historical past of performing high-profile and high-risk feats of endurance. His stunts embody locking himself in a fish bowl, trapping himself in a block of ice for 2 days in Instances Sq., and standing freely atop a skinny, tall pillar for 35 hours in New York Metropolis.
Wednesday’s stunt lasted roughly 30 minutes. Blaine launched himself from the balloon cluster and free-fell for some 30 seconds earlier than deploying a parachute to sluggish his descent.
“Wow, that was superior,” Blaine yelled into his radio as he stood again on land.
Blaine has stated he educated for the occasion for 2 years, together with changing into a licensed pilot. It was his first stay broadcast stunt since 2012.
(This story corrects peak to 25,000 ft from 30,000 ft in 1st paragraph and peak in paragraph three, deletes Mount Everest reference).