Canadian Man Arrested After Flying Lawn Chair With Helium Balloons, Police Say

Dan Boria was trying to advertise for a cleaning company.

ByABC News
July 6, 2015, 3:49 PM

— -- It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s a man in a lawn chair flying over Canada.

A Canadian man attached giant helium-filled balloons to a makeshift cockpit -– a lawn chair -– and soared for miles over Calgary in an attempt at a promotional stunt, according to police and one of his business partners.

But Daniel Boria, 26, lost control of the rig and had to abandon ship at some point.

“He had no control device on the balloons and really was just traveling by the grace of the wind,” Derek Mohajer told ABC News today.

Boria, who works in marketing, took to the skies Sunday afternoon with 150 balloons in an attempt to promote a cleaning company.

“It was a little too windy and he went a little too high and the stunt wasn’t responsible,” Mohajer said.

According to police, he was first spotted above Harlow Avenue, in the Northwest part of the city. Then witnesses spotted him trying to maneuver the chair towards the downtown area.

When he neared downtown, "the man jumped from the chair and opened a parachute attached to his back," police said in a release.

He landed at Highfield Boulevard and Ogden Road, in the southeast part of the city, about 9 miles away.

Boria missed his landing zone -- which police believe to be the Stampede Grounds -- and had minor ankle injuries, according to Mohajer.

Police arrested Boria and charged him with mischief causing danger to life, according to the Calgary Police Service. He has since been released.

As for the balloons, Mohajer said he has no clue where they ended up.