Nicholas John Piantanida (August 15, 1932 – August 29, 1966) was an American amateur

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, w ...

jumper who reached with his ''Strato Jump II'' balloon on February 2, 1966, flying a crewed balloon higher than anyone before, a record that stood until

Felix Baumgartner Felix Baumgartner (; born 20 April 1969) is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He is widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as par ...

's flight on October 14, 2012.

Early life

Piantanida was born August 15, 1932, and grew up in

Union City, New Jersey Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589, As a young man, Piantanida played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

in East Coast leagues. This article mistakenly gives Piantanida's date of death as August 25, 1966. After high school, he joined the

U.S. Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 20 ...

and shortly thereafter, the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

for two years, where he earned the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

. After his military service, Piantanida and his climbing partner, Walt Tomashoff, became the first people to climb a route on the north side of

Auyán-tepui Auyán Tepui (), also spelled Ayan, is a tepui in Bolívar state, Venezuela.Huber, O. (1995). Geographical and physical features. In: P.E. Berry, B.K. Holst & K. Yatskievych (eds.) '' Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. Volume 1. Introduction.'' Mis ...

, the plateau in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

from which

Angel Falls Angel Falls ( es, Salto Ángel; Pemon language: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' meaning "waterfall of the deepest place", or ''Parakupá Vená'', meaning "the fall from the highest point") is a waterfall in Venezuela. It is the world's tallest unint ...

drops from a cleft near the summit. For this accomplishment he was interviewed on the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

''. After his return to the United States, Piantanida worked in an embroidery factory, played basketball at various colleges, and worked as an ironworker on the

Verrazano Narrows Bridge The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and t ...

Skydiving career

In 1963, Piantanida was living in

Brick Township, New Jersey Brick Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township had a population of 73,620, making it the state's 13th-largest municipality and the third most populous municipality in Ocean County ...

, and had a business selling pets when he discovered skydiving. One day after watching jumps at the then new Lakewood Sport Parachuting Center near Lakewood, he began taking lessons and jumping regularly. After making hundreds of jumps and earning a class D expert license, he learned of the jump from a balloon by Yevgeni Andreyev that gave the official world record for the highest parachute jump to the Soviet Union, and determined to bring the world record back to the United States. (The unofficial record, which Piantanida was also trying to break, was held by

Joseph Kittinger Joseph William Kittinger II (July 27, 1928 – December 9, 2022) served as a United States Air Force (USAF) officer from 1950 to 1978. He was a fighter pilot who earned Command Pilot status and retired as a colonel. He held the world record for ...

of the U.S.) Piantanida took a job driving trucks in order to give him time to train on weekends. He earnestly studied meteorology, balloon technology and survival systems. As author Craig Ryan put it, he "transformed himself into the director of a one-man aeronautical research program." He obtained money from sponsors, and, after lobbying by a United States Senator, the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

gave him access to training facilities and

David Clark Company David Clark Company, Inc. is an American manufacturing company. DCC designs and manufactures a wide variety of aerospace and industrial protective equipment, including pressure-space suit systems, anti-G suits, headsets, and several medical/safet ...

loaned him a

pressure suit A pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pr ...

. He assembled a team of volunteers for an attempt at the world free-fall record. On October 22, 1965, Piantanida made his first attempt at the record in his balloon named ''Strato Jump I''. The attempt ended when a

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizont ...

tore off the top of his balloon, ending the flight at just and forcing Piantanida to parachute into the

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

city dump. On February 2, 1966, in his second attempt, Piantanida launched in ''Strato Jump II'' from

Joe Foss Field Sioux Falls Regional Airport , also known as Joe Foss Field, is a public and military use airport three miles northwest of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. It is named in honor of aviator and Sioux Falls native Joe Foss, who later served a ...

near

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

, and reached an unprecedented altitude of . From that height he had planned to jump from the gondola to set a world record for the highest parachute jump, but was unable to disconnect himself from his oxygen line. He aborted the jump and detached the gondola from the balloon, returning to earth in the gondola without the balloon. Because he did not return to earth with his balloon, his unprecedented altitude is not recognized by the ''

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintain ...

'' as a balloon altitude world record, and because he did not jump from the balloon's gondola at 123,500 feet, he earned no parachute altitude record. His third attempt occurred on the morning of May 1, 1966. Piantanida donned a bright orange suit and parachute harness. Secured inside a

styrofoam Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...

-insulated gondola about the size of a portable toilet, he began his ascent for a planned super-sonic free fall from over . However, ground controllers listening to the communications link with the ''Strato Jump III'' were startled by the sound of a whoosh of rushing air and a sudden, cut-off call over the radio to abort. Piantanida's suit had depressurized at about the mark. Ground controllers immediately jettisoned the balloon at close to – higher than the cruising altitude for commercial jets – and for 25 minutes Piantanida's gondola parachuted to the ground. He barely survived the descent, having suffered massive tissue damage due to

ebullism Ebullism is the formation of gas bubbles in bodily fluids due to reduced environmental pressure, for example at high altitude. It occurs because a system of liquid and gas at equilibrium will see a net conversion of liquid to gas as pressure lo ...

. The lack of oxygen left him

brain damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

d and in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

from which he never recovered. Piantanida died four months later at the Veterans Hospital in Philadelphia, on August 29. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey. The gondola of the ''Strato Jump III'' is preserved and displayed in the Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Smithsonian

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the N ...

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous ...

Chantilly, Virginia Chantilly is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax County, Virginia. The population was 24,301 as of the 2020 census. Chantilly is named after an early-19th-century mansion and farm, which in turn took the ...

Personal life

Piantanida was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. He married Janice McDowell in 1963, and they had three daughters: Donna, Diane, and Debbie. A film based on his life, entitled ''Angry Sky'', premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

on April 22, 2015, and on ESPN as part of the ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' series on July 30, 2015.

References

External links

An article about Nick Piantanida
at ''Life Magazine'' online
An article about Nick Piantanida
at The Art of Manliness
A photo of the Strato-Jump III gondola
at the

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Na ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piantanida, Nick 1932 births 1966 deaths American aviation record holders American builders American men's basketball players American mountain climbers American people of Italian descent American skydivers American truck drivers Balloon flight record holders Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (North Arlington, New Jersey) Catholics from New Jersey Strato Jump III Flight altitude record holders People from Brick Township, New Jersey People from Union City, New Jersey Place of birth missing Space diving United States Army soldiers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1966