Calgary ‘balloon man’ takes flight again in lawn chair strapped to balloons

Call him a “balloonatic” or call him crazy: Daniel Boria is best known for flying a lawn chair rigged with balloons over the Calgary Stampede grounds in 2015.

The stunt broke the law and Boria paid more than $26,000 in fines after he pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous operation of an aircraft.

Despite the punishment, Boria did it again two months ago. This time over New Mexico, where he recorded an infomercial for his cleaning company in mid-air.

“For the first two or three minutes, basically took a look at my entire life and asked myself, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’ I held on for dear life,” Boria said.

He claims this time, he avoided a public area and reserved airspace over New Mexico.

But due to equipment failure, he couldn’t gauge exactly how high he was flying.

Boria thinks he was a few thousand feet above ground, when balloons started popping.

“I noticed the chair started coming down, I had no idea if I was high enough to pull the parachute. I ended up riding the chair down to the desert,” Boria recalled.

Del Michaud is a hot air balloon pilot instructor and said while the lawn chair is unusual, cluster balloon rides have been done before and safely.

“It is safe to fly a cluster balloon, but you should be taught how to do it,” Michaud said. “If you take it out and do it on your own, then it’s dangerous.”

In a statement to Global News, Transport Canada said:

“Flying any manned or unmanned air vehicle, including one powered by balloons, in a built-up area and close to people, power lines and other air traffic is extremely dangerous.”

“Such activity can result in property damage, injuries and fatalities, leading to lawsuits, fines and jail time.”

Boria hasn’t faced charges after his stunt in New Mexico and says it was all worth it.

He’s now planning a more elaborate flight—with the proper approvals—from somewhere in Alberta.

Alberta RCMP declined to comment on Boria’s latest stunt.