Man who flew balloon chair over Canada fined $26,500 for stunt
- 7 years ago
CALGARY, CANADA — A man famous for flying a chair tied to more than 100 helium balloons has been ordered by a judge to pay $26,500 for his incredibly dangerous stunt.
On July 5 of 2015, Daniel Boria, then 26, hopped onto his green lawn chair and let 120 industrial-sized helium balloons carry him up into the clouds.
Boria’s idea was inspired by Disney & Pixar’s animated film, UP. He flew so high he claims to have seen a Boeing 747 pass underneath him.
Boria’s originally planned to parachute into the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races. However, because he wasn’t strapped into his chair when wind gusts started blowing him off course, Boria decided to deploy his parachute early.
He expected a soft landing, but awaiting him on the ground were the flashing blue and red lights of authorities waiting to arrest him.
On March 17 at his sentencing hearing, a judge called Boria’s stunt “unconscionably stupid” and handed out a $5,000 fine, with an extra $1,500 added to cover a victim impact fee. He’s also been ordered to donate $20,000 to a local veterans food bank.
Considering the stunt ran Boria about $10,000 to execute, and was partially a marketing gimmick to promote his cleaning company, it may have actually paid off, and at the very least, left him with the thrillride of a lifetime.
Dan Boria now has aims of pursuing a legally-authorized mission to take his lawn chair to space, roughly 140,000 feet in the air.
On July 5 of 2015, Daniel Boria, then 26, hopped onto his green lawn chair and let 120 industrial-sized helium balloons carry him up into the clouds.
Boria’s idea was inspired by Disney & Pixar’s animated film, UP. He flew so high he claims to have seen a Boeing 747 pass underneath him.
Boria’s originally planned to parachute into the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races. However, because he wasn’t strapped into his chair when wind gusts started blowing him off course, Boria decided to deploy his parachute early.
He expected a soft landing, but awaiting him on the ground were the flashing blue and red lights of authorities waiting to arrest him.
On March 17 at his sentencing hearing, a judge called Boria’s stunt “unconscionably stupid” and handed out a $5,000 fine, with an extra $1,500 added to cover a victim impact fee. He’s also been ordered to donate $20,000 to a local veterans food bank.
Considering the stunt ran Boria about $10,000 to execute, and was partially a marketing gimmick to promote his cleaning company, it may have actually paid off, and at the very least, left him with the thrillride of a lifetime.
Dan Boria now has aims of pursuing a legally-authorized mission to take his lawn chair to space, roughly 140,000 feet in the air.