Police were not happy about this deck chair pilot
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A Canadian man has been arrested for mischief causing danger to life after tying 110 helium balloons to his lawn chair and flying over the city of Calgary.
Daniel Boria, 26, spent $20,000 on the stunt designed as a PR exercise for his cleaning company and parachuted out of the chair, intending to land at The Calgary Stampede rodeo festival.
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Is Mr Boria the modern day Danny Deckchair?
Local police told CBC News Mr Boria faces a fine for the flight and said “it probably would have been cheaper to get a billboard”.
That did not seem to deflate Mr Boria: “It’s the most surreal experience I ever imagined.”
“I was just by myself on a $20 lawn chair, up in the sky above the clouds.
“At one point I was looking up at the balloons, they were popping, the chair was shaking and I was looking down at my feet dangling through the clouds at a 747 flight taking off, and a few landing.”
Mr Boria spent about an hour in the sky, reportedly covering an area of 10 kms. He wanted to land in The Calgary Stampede which is the Canadian city’s biggest annual rode event.
Instead he landed in a field about one kilometre away from there he’d planned.
On top of the charge of mischief causing danger to life, Mr Boria may face further sanctions including, endangering other flights and flying across the city.
Mr Boria told CBC News he was unhappy the police were pursuing him for the stunt. He believes it was “quite creative” and is worth the cost.
He will appear in court next week.