when our feet leave the ground, there's no telling how high you can go. >> i wish i could get on that cloud and float. >> i said to myself, if i see blackness, i'm going to freak out. >> or how hard we can fall. >> i thought i'm about to die. 60 feet is not enough. >> in this hour, two midair collisions send daredevils plummeting to earth. >> the main fear is to be knocked out or killed. a lurching plane drops from the sky and crashes into a lake. >> it's hard to imagine anybody surviving that. and a man teetering on the edge requires a rescue 70 stories above the city of new york.

>> it's the unpredictability of it. >> welcome to "caught on camera". i'm contessa brewer. throughout history humans have looked for ways to soar, if only for a little while. flying, floating, and even free falling as you'll see, a lot can go wrong high up in the air. some of the stories are about dreamers while others are about daredevils who relish that trip down, but our first story is about a man at a low point in his life and the effort, high above a city street, to save him. 70 stories above the streets of new york, a desperate man contemplates ending his life by jumping from the top of one of the city's skyscrapers.

>> obviously something has brought him to the edge and we want to figure it out as quickly as possible, but the job could always go very wrong. >> august 10, 2011. detectives james cole and sean solar of the new york city police department's emergency services unit are on duty when the call comes in. >> we started our shift at 3:15 that afternoon. and almost immediately as soon as we finished loading up and checking our equipment, a call came over that there was a jumper up on the top of 30 rockefeller plaza. >> detectives race to midtown manhattan, where the 23-year-old man dangles his legs precariously from the 70th floor of the observation deck of 30 rock. >> the first thing i see when i get up there is him furiously scribbling on the note pad. i tried communicating with him as much as possible.

>> several onlookers and the local nbc affiliates sky cam record the action as it unfolds. >> he was on the northeast corner standing on approximately a 2 ft. 2' x 2'wide piece of the building. >> there was a seven-foot glass partition between us and him. what i initially did was climbed up on top of a piece of the building where i could talk down over the partition at him. seeing them helps you communicate. >> i want to position myself to the other side of the individual. >> he was kind of limited to that one corner of the building. that's something we tried to do as soon as we got on the scene. >> as police clear the streets below to protect bystanders from possible injury, the detectives begin a dialogue with a distraught man. >> at one point, he handed me his bag. he said, give this to my mom. i immediately handed it back and said you're going to give it to your mom when we resolve this. we wanted to let him know even

though he feels no one is there listening to him, we are there to listen and to help him. >> the glass wall and strong winds make it difficult for detective solar to hear the conversation. in a very bold move, he scales the glass barrier and gets on the ledge. >> it's a piece of glass. i'm over 200 pounds when fully geared. it was a concern of mine. if that glass were to break and shatter, it's going to fall to the street level, which could hit an innocent bystander in the street. >> detective solar says he fakes injuring himself to appear more vulnerable and less threatening to the subject. once over the glass partition, he's in a position to grab the man, should he jump. but even with safety harnesses, the detectives are risking their lives. >> the fear in this situation is really the unpredictability of it. the person on the edge is obviously distraught. you don't know if they are going

to become violent. >> if the suspect became agitated and wanted to strike at me, there was a good possibility that he would not only fall himself, but actually bring me down with him. >> to diffuse the situation, the detectives offer the man some water and cigarettes. >> he said he didn't smoke. we made a joke, this might be a time to start. and he kind of laughed at that. >> what that does for us is it allows me to move a little closer to the subject. it also allows him to understand that i'm there to help. >> eventually he started to talk and he said he was there because he had just lost his job, and a manuscript he had written, he couldn't get published. it's a good sign that someone is on the edge and they are continuing to communicate with you. if they are communicating with you, they are not jumping. >> according to the new york city's department of health, nearly one in ten suicides in the city is an out-of-towner who chooses to take their life at a well known landmark, just like this nevada resident is

threatening to do. >> at one point, he did stand up and put his hands on the glass. we weren't sure if he was going to push off and try to jump, or whether he was going to scale the glass and try to do like a self-rescue. >> he makes a split-second decision. >> at that point, i jumped from where i was positioned to kind of block him from being able to push himself off the building. >> when the subject started to move over, we hoisted him up. the other crew on the roof safely brought him to the top of the roof. >> once he was over the glass and was secured in handcuffs, then we know that the job is pretty much over. >> at this point in time, where we try to continue to talk to him and explain to him that he's making a very smart decision in handling the situation the way he did. >> the man tells police that he suffers from schizophrenia and

is immediately taken to a mental hospital for an evaluation. >> any time a job goes as well as this job, it's always a feeling of a sense of accomplishment. >> i think any one of us in the emergency service unit when we have the opportunity to help someone, it's a sense of satisfaction. but we're kind of off to the next job. coming up, a plane slams into a lake. >> it's hard to imagine anybody surviving that. >> and when shifting winds push a sky diver off course, brace for impact. when "caught on camera: up in the air" returns.

a peaceful day of fishing in summer ends in disaster when a small airplane comes barrelling out of the sky and slams into a

lake. >> holy [ bleep ]. >> pieces of the plane flying everywhere. it's hard to imagine anybody surviving that. >> july 29, 1994. waterford, michigan. mark gomez is shooting his public access fishing show on pontiac lake, hoping to reel in a big catch for the camera. >> all morning long, there had been a plane or two that crossed over the lake. but there was one plane that came over and sounded like it stalled. that's when i realized that that plane was in trouble. >> tape that, man. tape it. >> the airplane's pilot and his passengers are on their way to an air show in wisconsin when the engine suddenly fails. >> and then about 800 feet, the

engine began to sputter. now, i figured that landing in the water with my gear up was probably the best choice that i had. >> gomez speeds over to the wreckage to see how he can help. fortunately, the plane crashes in only about four feet of water, so it doesn't sink. >> i got there very fast. there was already people in the water. calmly bringing the people out. >> bystanders are able to rescue the two injured passengers from the wreckage. but they need help with rapaport. he's still inside the cockpit and bleeding from his head. >> the camera guy, he got a little squeamish about the whole thing. so i grabbed the camera and i started shooting after that.

i was more concerned about making sure i got the scene on tape. >> sergeant john holland is the only fireman on duty in white lake township when the call comes in. >> when i first arrived there, i see the aircraft, nose down. i can still see the pilot in the plane. with that type of impact, an aircraft is basically falling out of the sky hitting the water. water, my biggest considers are spinal injuries. >> the situation seems under control. but sergeant holland knows there are hidden dangers. a two-ton plane leaking 75 gallons of jet fuel can be a recipe for disaster. >> when you get any type of incident like this, you start getting everybody wants to come and look. you have fuel in the water. it could be ignited. >> despite the danger, holland goes in after the pilot. >> i actually received first-degree burns under my arms from the fuel.

it was burning. it felt like having acid on your skin. >> but in the adrenaline-fueled moment, holland doesn't feel his injuries yet. he's focused on rescuing the pilot. >> i floated backboard underneath him to support his back and bring him to the shoreline. >> fortunately, everyone survives the crash. but the pilot, elliot rapaport, doesn't believe luck had anything to do with it. >> the training that i had, i believe, is what saved my life. had i not had that, i probably would have spiraled down and crashed. rapaport and the two passengers suffered the same spinal cord injuries. a crushed l-2 vertebra with one difference. >> the passengers recovered completely from the injury.

and being a little bit older, my injury continued after the fact. and i was never able to get into an airplane again. just pleased that i had the training that i did have, and i was able to come out as a whole person. >> did you get that? >> yes. >> coming up -- >> i started to see zach move backwards. i went, oh, no. >> midair collisions and miscalculations send daredevils dropping from the sky. >> you can wind up with closing speeds in excess of 200 miles an hour. >> plummeting 6,000 feet into a frozen wilderness. i felt like i was about to die because 60 feet is not enough for my parachute to open. >> when "caught on camera: up in the air" returns. eezing, fevers?

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a spectacular aerial stunt goes horribly wrong.

not one, but two midair collisions. 10,000 feet above the earth, causing chaos in the skies, wingsuit fliers are daredevils outfitted in aerodynamic suits allowing them to go at speeds faster than 120 miles an hour. it's the closest a human can get to actually taking flight. >> basically i feel like i've got my own private and personal f-16. >> your arms are your wings. your legs are your engines. you fly to that place. what else can you do that feels like that? >> scott bland and scotty burns are veterans of the high octane sport. >> you know, most people ride a roller coaster for a thrill. that's just about something to put me to sleep. >> but the greater the thrill, the greater the danger. >> i would say the most dangerous thing is the risk of

collision. if you lose sight of somebody else that you're flying with, you can wind up with closing speeds in access of 200 miles an hour. >> the main fear with being hit is to be knocked out or killed. >> the biggest risk for collision comes when wing suitors fly dangerously close to each other in formations called flocks. and the most important person in the flock is the base. the person flying out front, guiding the team toward their target. and there's nobody scotty burns would want more for a leader. >> scott's been leader of more large formation than anybody else on the planet. the one thing we know is we can always trust him to get us home. >> they look to me for the point of reference. i have to go a speed and rate and hold it there no matter what happens. >> if he falters in any way, his flock could be thrown into a state of chaos. >> if we're all going in the

same direction and doing the same thing, the chance of collision is fairly low. but that can change. >> and it can change in an instant. like it did on a clear day, two miles over puerto rico. bland is struck by another wing suitor and starts spiraling out of control towards the earth. february 16, 2008. it's the third day of the annual puerto rico free fall festival. scott bland, scotty burns, and their team have been having a blast. >> that day was another perfect day in paradise. it's gorgeous down there. the beaches are beautiful. the water is beautiful. and the sky diving is terrific. >> their team has been jumping out of planes all morning. on their fifth jump of the day, they decide to ratchet up the adrenaline and try one of the most dangerous formations a

flock can perform. it's called the stack. >> it's when you get a number of wing suitors actually flying one over top of the other. you can only see what's in front of your eyes. so you have a hard time seeing the people behind you. you have to rely on those people to do the right thing and not fly into you. definitely, a large risk whenever a stack goes wrong. >> but all seems okay on exit. scott bland points the flock towards the drop zone. as two shoot from the wing. and that's when it happens. fellow wing suitor zach trodel hits a pocket of dead air. >> i started to see zach slightly move backwards. i went, oh, no. don't do that. >> he's dropping like a bowling ball and slams right into the back of bland's legs, sending the base of the stack into a free fall.

it's a scary moment, but bland recovers quickly. scotty burns, with his camera still rolling, dives to check on his friend. >> i flew over next to him and gave him an okay signal. he had a smile on his face. and kind of a look like, what the heck was that? and i know what he interpreted as a smile was a grimace, but i said, ouch. >> bland is hurting, but he has a bigger concern. >> i didn't know if my gear had been damaged. it could have been opened, and i might not have been aware of it. i could see from his face that nothing else was wrong. so at that point, i knew i was okay. >> bland immediately turns his attention to the safety of his team members who start reforming around him. >> i need to make sure i am aiming myself back towards the drop zone to make sure i'm safe

and to make sure everybody else gets back. i consider that my responsibility as the person on the bottom. >> but as quickly as bland reorients himself, unbelievably, it happens again. another pocket of dead air, and another midair collision. this time, two different wingsuit fliers. as they tumble in the sky, the team reaches 5,000 feet and bland signals to pull their parachutes. unsure if everybody is accounted for. >> after we opened the parachutes, i look around to see if the correct number of people are there. i knew how many people we had in the flock when we left the airplane. and then i counted that number of parachutes, plus mine. so i knew everybody had a parachute open. they could have been hurt, but they weren't dead. >> when they land, bland finds out that everybody in the group is okay. his legs and back are very sore from the impact. but more than anything, he's

thankful the episode is over. >> it was a huge feeling of relief to finally get my feet back on the ground. there's a rule. it's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than to be up there wishing you were down here. >> but if you think this brush with death will cause scott to stop jumping out of planes, think again. >> a lot of people think these people are just nuts. they have a death wish. this is not the kind of thing i could do. there's no payoff without some kind of risk. and if you take a graduated risk, the payoff can be well worth it. jumping from 6,000 feet above one of the coldest and most remote places on earth, a wingsuit flyer misjudges his altitude and crashes into a snow-packed mountain. >> it was a trip of a lifetime.

>> april 10, 2009. russia. professional wingsuit pilot james boole is traveling to russia's far east to shoot a documentary on its extreme landscape. >> snow for nine months a year. it has the most active volcanos than any country on the planet. >> he's eager to make it one of the most thrilling trips. >> we had done three other jumps that day. and it was obvious to everybody this was going to be the last jump because it was getting dark. we were nearly out of daylight. >> boole follows the lead wingsuit flyer as he jumped from the helicopter into an icy gorge. >> i was filming. to help me frame the video, i had something on my left eye. plus the fact we're flying on snow. and in cloudy day, towards sunset, you can't make out the texture. it's just white.

>> the plan is to deploy his parachute at 600 feet, just after the lead wingsuit flier opens his. although it's dangerously low to the ground, boole is determined to capture as much of the flight as he can. >> i was committed to stay there until either he pulled or i just knew it was 600 feet. >> boole is more focused on getting the shot than his altitude until the other flier pulls his chute. >> i saw him reach for the parachute. immediately, i saw the ground. rather than 600 feet, i was at 60 feet. i could see the texture of the snow and ice. so then i thought the most likely i'm about to die. because 60 feet is not enough for the parachute to open. i'm still doing over 100 miles per hour. >> he pulls his parachute hoping for a miracle. >> the parachute didn't open in time, but what it did do is it slow me down enough that i'm still here today.

i swung out and i landed flat on my back. it spread out the force of the impact. >> boole fractures his spine, breaks some ribs, and bruises his lungs. but amazingly, survives the 6,000-foot drop. >> my initial feeling was parachuting, flying, all gone, finished. >> three, two, one. >> but time heals wounds and boole can't stay grounded for long. >> after six months, i started to miss jumping. to be happy in my life, this is what i do. this is what i am. i'm a jumper. i fly. >> welcome back. coming up, a thrilling jump ends in utter disaster. and an aerial artist twists and turns from a bridge hundreds

of feet above traffic when "caught on camera: up in the air" returns.

welcome back to "caught on camera." i'm contessa brewer. the history of sky diving dates back. these days, hundreds of thousands of people jump from high places every year.

deploying parachutes to bring them safely back to earth. according to the united states parachute association, the likelihood of a fatal crash is roughly one in 140,000. and the sky diver you're about to see escapes that fate by the skin of his teeth. an experienced skydiver is sailing down to earth at 45 miles per hour. like he's done more than 300 times before. but this time, something goes horribly wrong. >> are you okay? >> i've been in other situations where i have got out of them. this one here where the winds happened to catch me at the wrong time. i had to make some really fast decisions. and obviously it didn't pan out the way i wanted it to. i was hoping to miss it, but i didn't miss the trailer.

>> april 30, 2011. high above colorado's fremont county airport, tommy ferguson is preparing for his third and final jump of the day. >> i had already put out two loads of students. the day was going great. this was my third jump that day. i told the other jumpers that i will film them coming out. >> he gets out on the strut of the plane to capture the other skydivers they jump nearly 4,000 feet to earth. >> i just let go of the aircraft and watch it fly away, which is what you do. >> after free falling for several seconds, ferguson pulls his parachute and plots a plan for landing. >> i was facing into the wind the whole time. i'm thinking, i'm not going to make it back. i look down. maybe i should just land there. >> ferguson decides to land about 80 yards north of his intended target until a sudden burst of wind knocks him back on

course. >> all of a sudden, it was like i got a big gust of wind from my backside. almost like a downdraft. just pushing down on me. >> ferguson is heading directly for the trailer, parked inside the drop zone, which is used to pick up jumpers once they land. >> i got fixated on the trailer. and when you get fixation, nine times out of ten, you're going to hit what you're trying to miss. >> the last thing i remember was, well, if i turn now, i could actually do what we call a hook turn right into the ground. >> hook turns can be used to avoid obstacles by doing a sudden 90-degree turn just before landing. but they can be fatal if attempted too low to the ground. at the last second, ferguson chooses not to hook turn and slams into the trailer. it may not look like it, but it's a decision that may have saved his life. >> it was a week later.

a gentleman did the same thing up around denver. he hook turned it and hit the ground. he's dead. >> ferguson survives the impact, but he doesn't escape injury. >> i broke eight bones. i bruised my left lung. my arm was yanked out of its socket. all the nerves and stuff like that. >> every nerve is severed and ferguson loses all feeling and movement in his left arm. three and a half months after the accident, he makes a difficult decision. >> i literally asked them to take my arm off. it was cumbersome. it was doing nothing. my doctor said, yeah, there's no use keeping it there. >> ferguson may have suffered a serious injury, but that won't stop him from taking flight again. >> i just enjoy the sport.

and as soon as my amputation heals up, i'm going to be back in the sky again with one arm. just when new yorkers think they have seen it all, a woman dangles without a safety harness from one of new york city's monumental bridges. twisting and turning 300 feet above rush hour traffic. if you're wondering, this is not legal. >> when i said fly high or die, what i was really saying was give me liberty or give me death. >> july 11, 2011. aerial dancers say she prepares for one of the most dangerous performances of her life. >> i knew i would perform there. it wasn't a question of if. it was a matter of when. >> on the williamsburg bridge,

ava is one of a few people with a camera on that bridge. >> a friend of mine e-mailed me the day of her performance and said come out today to the bridge. something amazing is going to happen. i brought my camera with me not knowing what to expect. >> sharp and a fellow performer carrying a camera scale the tower in about seven minutes where she attaches her silk cloud swing 300 feet above the deck. >> it's a double trapeze made out of silk. it opens so you can twist, spin side to side, it basically gives an incredible versatility. >> once the swing is securely rigged, sharp begins her dance. >> as soon as i got there, she was sort of enrobed in the silk. that's when i started shooting. and i just thought, i'm committed to keeping the camera on her as long as my arms can hold it steady. >> i had choreographed this scene as a duo.

but at the last minute, my partner decided he didn't feel comfortable doing it. i did a solo instead. >> it was stunning to see this massive structure and this tiny fairy-like creature suspended from these silks. the perspective was incredible. >> there's a moment where she drops. there's no difference between not falling 13 feet and not falling 300 feet. when your body knows how to fly, it's not going to let you fall. >> but after about 15 minutes, the high winds whipping sharp

around take their toll. fatigue sets in. >> i didn't want to push it anymore than i already had. and i was exhausted. i was ready to come down. >> i think that people were really excited and proud that she was doing this. and that they were there to see it. so much so that when the police came, people were cheering for her and showing their support. >> i wanted people to see that i was being arrested not for breaking the law, but for breaking tradition. >> sharp is arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including criminal trespassing and reckless endangerment. she was locked up for three days. her case is still pending. >> my decision was neither reckless nor endangering of others. it was planned. controlled. considered. part of the reason i planned it the way i did was so that if i did fall, i would fall on the

subway tracks. >> i hope through the capturing on video that we can appreciate what humans are capable of in such beauty and grace and strength and bravery. >> the two most commonly-asked questions are why did you do it? and would you do it again? the first i say, because i can. and the second, i never do the same thing twice. coming up -- >> i said to myself if i see blackness, i'm going to freak out. >> a father and son let their imaginations sore. >> we were just stunned. it was the most incredible thing. >> when "caught on camera: up in the air" returns. the mighty turducken.

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a father-son project elevates a homemade aircraft higher than they ever imagined. >> i said to myself, if i see blackness, i'm going to freak out. >> when we saw the blackness of space and culture of the earth and the blue glow the earth gives off, we were stunned. it was the most incredible thing ever. >> luke geissbuhler loves doing cool projects with his son, max. especially when they involve cameras. >> we came upon this project online. and the potential of the outcome was so huge that we couldn't pass it up. >> the boys plan on launching a camera into space with the aid of a helium-filled weather balloon. >> it took about eight months to research it and build different crafts and do tests.

>> i mean we attached a parachute to like a little thingy to it from the kitchen window down to the backyard and we found place to deploy. >> we did a little altitude test because we wanted to put it up in the air and bring it down. >> the first model of it had wings and a tail fin. >> we were looking at things like how shaky it would be, how much it would be influenced by wind, things like that. it actually told us a lot. >> it's essential the aircraft rise and fall with as little resistance as possible. this will keep it stable enough to capture a steady shot. >> the foam outside was dub with spray insulation you'd use for your windows of your home. and that made kind of a hard case and made a hamburger shape that was aerodynamic. >> we spray-painted it so we could see it if it fell in the forest.

it really stood out. >> although the neon paint will make it easier to spot, they will need something much more dependable if they want to find it. >> i found it seemed to have the best app to track the balloon. it gives you longitude and latitude but altitude as well. >> if you lost your phone, you would have where to track it. >> there's the camera. >> next to it was a little camera used for sky diving stunts and motorsports. the whole craft with the camera and tracking system is within a 4-pound limit for faa regulations. >> august 11th, 2010, newburgh, new york. after eight months of prep work, launch day finally arrives. >> when we were assembling the balloon, they were so excited. >> we bought like some lollipops

so me and miles were really hyped up. >> the kids give this really great countdown. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, blast-off! >> we cut off the balloon. >> it started rocking wildly like crazy. it was pretty fast. after about two minutes, it disappeared into the clouds. >> they tracked the craft's coordinates. but that's no guarantee they will be able to retrieve it. >> the batteries in the phone could freeze. it could just not give out signal and it will never find it. if it falls into anything that would block the transmission, it falls into very dense trees too deeply, it could lose reception. if it falls into water, it would be bad. a lot of things can go wrong. >> until they recover the craft, it will be a mystery as to what the camera captures.

fortunately, it lands only 30 miles north of the launch site. they are able to retrieve the footage. >> to be totally honest, we got a little sick watching it. we were eating and watching it at our kitchen table the first time. we were so focused on the screen and eating at the same time. >> but once it reaches the stratosphere, everything levels out. >> we were shooting from about 80,000 feet. twice as high as a plane. three times as high as a plane. >> the craft peaks at 100,000 feet or nearly 19 miles above the earth on its 95-minute voyage. >> at the very end, the balloon is stretched to its absolute maximum capacity. it was about 22 feet in diameter. it's enormous. a little craft below it. >> it got like that big. because the pressure lightens as

you get up. there isn't a lot of oxygen. and the air is very thin. >> the pressure of the helium inside the balloon is much greater than the surrounding air pressure, so it continues to expand until finally, the balloon pops. and the craft comes plummeting back to earth at more than 100 miles an hour. >> so the parachute deploys maybe 30 seconds after the balloon bursts. it doesn't do anything until it gets the heavier air. >> at one point, it rocked head over heels. even though it didn't have head or heels. it was pretty amazing because there's a lot of reasons it wouldn't work. >> i've shot a lot of things. that by far takes the cake as the most impressive thing i have ever shot. >> coming up, party balloons, a lawn chair, and a dream. >> you look up and see a little cloud. you say i wish i could get on

that cloud and float. >> when "caught on camera: up in the air" returns.

a gas station owner lives out his childhood fantasy. floating nearly 18,000 feet above the earth, tethered to dozens of brightly-colored balloons. >> some of my best memories as a child. i wish i could float on a cloud. it's a peaceful experience. >> this is not just a flight of fancy for kent couch. in 2008, he tries to break his own record in number of miles traveled in a balloon. >> a way to get up in the air with a group of balloons. some people would use weather balloons. i have never done that. the funny thing is usually i use

a lawn chair because it's comfortable and i can lean back. it's red neck and i'm kind of red neck. >> there are some federal aviation rules to follow. but remarkably, as long as couch's aircraft stays under 254 pounds, he doesn't have to register with the faa. but couch does need some technical assistance. >> my friend has done a great job of making everything work. he's a techie guy. >> it might look unsafe, but a lot of care and attention has gone to make it very safe. >> cluster ballooning has come a long way since it was first attempted in the early 1930s. kent's lawn chair is outfitted with all the gear he'll need to survive a long trip. from a gps system to an oxygen tank so he can breathe above 13,000 feet.

and lucky for us, it also includes cameras to document his voyages. but in preparation for breaking his record, the most valuable tool for couch is the experience he's gained from his earlier attempts. like this flight in 2007. >> the wind would shoot me one way or the other. it was treacherous there. but fatigue got to me on that trip. i had a big parachute. it was bumpy. my back was killing me. >> ballast is any weight that improves stability. couch prefers to use water. >> he gets down too low, he drops water out so he can go back up. then when he gets too high, he pops a couple balloons to come back down. it's his ability to control his altitude.

each time it made things a little better. just learning from the previous flight. >> i started using a pilot's parachute, which is nice and comfortable. we got more security and safety. better communication between the ground crew. >> july 5, 2008. kent couch attempts to fly from bend, oregon, to boise, idaho, and break his record of 193 miles traveled in a cluster balloon. >> on launch day, we had to be up at 3:30 in the morning. >> it's usually about 50 to 70 volunteers that make this thing work. we'd normally have four or six helium stations. each station had four people on it. >> it takes a minute or two to blow up one balloon. we want room for them to expand. >> after all the balloons are staged, we put them in clusters of five. then you start assembling the groups of five into 15 or 20.

>> once everything checks out, couch kisses his wife and with cameras rolling, begins the assent. >> i can't steer myself. that's what i like about this little cluster ballooning thing. you just go where the winds take you. >> the thing you wouldn't realize is how peaceful it's up there. he's traveling at the same speed of the wind. even when he was moving at 50 miles an hour, he could set a napkin on his knee, and it wouldn't go anywhere. >> you start living a moment of what you have dreamed as a child. >> nearly nine hours later, couch crosses the state line into idaho. but he's not going to make it to boise. the winds have pushed him off course about 85 miles north of the city. >> i was a bit tired of being up there. i'm not a guy to sit still. >> despite missing the mark, he knows he's still broken his previous record. so couch prepares to land.

>> you have to have a way to make sure you can get the balloons popped on the way down. my preference is a bb gun. >> it takes a couple balloons to change him from ascending to descending. >> i'm coming in looking for an open area. no fences or wires or houses or roads. that's what i'm hoping for. >> couch touches down in cambridge, idaho, to a hero's welcome. his new record is 235 miles. >> so the next time, i'm going to go to 25,000 feet and see if i can stay out overnight, i could maybe break my old record and go farther. maybe 500 miles. >> luckily, cluster ballooning is a rare pastime. these home made aircraft require skill and training to operate safely. as well as a fair amount of luck. i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera.