Keeping the monolithic , floating fictional character balloons in theMacy ’s Thanksgiving Day Paradeunder control is no gentle task . Since the first balloons were introduced to the parade in 1927 , they ’ve been at the clemency of wind , light poles , and in some cases , the parade ’s own poor judgment . Macy ’s parade accident have gotten rare since the Great Balloon Massacre of 1997 ( see entries five and six ) , but they ’ll always be a part of the result ’s history . Here are some of the most infamousMacy ’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon - touch on incidents .
1. The Felix the Cat Balloon Catches Fire
Macy ’s did n’t have a plan for deflate balloon when it introduced them to the parade in1927 — so for several years , balloons were plainly release into the airwave at the death of the show , where they would stay until they deflate naturally . This method acting did n’t always go as swimmingly as intended . In 1931 , a balloon mold after the classic toon Felix the Cat got caught in a gamy - tension wire after its handlerslet it go . Itburst into flamesshortly after becoming ensnared .
2. A Plane Hits the Tom Cat Balloon
The pattern of free balloon at the remainder of the parade continue until1932 , when it nearly led to disaster . During these early years , Macy ’s offered advantage money to whoever retrieved and returned their wanton balloons . Some people went so far as risking their life to claim the payoff . When a 22 - year - old woman flying a plane over Queens spotted the 60 - foot Tom Cat balloon floating nearby , she flew into it hop-skip to send it back to Earth . The New York Timesreported her say , “ I think I ’ll have a man of the neck opening ” to her flight instructor as she made the high-risk maneuver . The balloonsnagged the wingand closely fetch the planer down with it ; at one point , the fair sex came nigh to fall from the plane when the cabin door flew open . fortunately , her flight of stairs teacher was capable to recover control of the aircraft . Macy ’s decided to officially end its tradition of releasing balloons after that .
3. The Popeye Balloon Rains on Spectators
unsound weather has led to many parade mischance . A balloon of Popeye the Sailordebutedon a rainy Thanksgiving Day in 1957 , and his cap act as a reservoir for rainwater . At one point , theballoon ’s handlerstook a sharp turn that caused urine to spatter out andsoak the crowdbelow .
4. The Sonic the Hedgehog Balloon Pops
The balloons forMacy ’s Thanksgiving Day Paradeand the streetlight lining the road have been enemy for decades . In 1993 , high idle words tug the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a perch on West 58th street , exit a large tear in itseye . Debris from the stroke stimulate minor injuries for a10 - year - old girland abroken shoulderfor an off - duty police force officer . Sonic was patch up in time for the next year ’s parade .
5. The Barney Balloon Meets a Violent End
The 1997 Macy ’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was blight with in high spirits winding that lead to the most notorious accidents of the upshot ’s history . One of the more memorable incidents ( especially for any nestling in attending ) was the violent destruction of Barney the Dinosaur . After handlers spent several instant fight to maintain dominance of the balloon , the malarkey knocked it into a streetlight , tearing it unfastened and causing it to puncture . In case that was n’t traumatic enough , police force officers pour the balloon with knife and began stabbing Modern holes in it to release the remaining atomic number 2 . ( ThePink Pantherballoon also had to be tamed that twelvemonth — an officer stabbed a hole in its tail to stabilize it . ) you could watch the harrowing fit in its entirety above .
6. The Cat in the Hat Balloon Puts a Woman in a Coma
You be intimate your parade went ill when a balloon ’s total destruction is n’t the worst incident of the morning . The most ill-famed balloon accident of1997 — and the parade ’s history — happened when the gargantuan Cat in the Hat balloon knocked into a streetlight , causing part of it to fall into the crowd below . The dust injured four people and transmit two woman to the infirmary , one of whom was in a coma for a month . ( She latersued Macy’sand New York City and walked away with a multi - million dollar settlement . ) The number of accidents the parade watch that class earned it thenickname“The Great Balloon Massacre . ” Regulations on the types of balloon take into account in the parade and how they would be handle were tightened the following year to prevent similar disasters in the future .
7. The M&Ms Balloon Showers Glass
The bad Macy ’s accident of the new millennium occurred in 2005 . That class , theM&Ms balloonwas knocked off of course by a sudden gust of farting in Times Square and ended up damaging a light terminal . The accident showeredbroken glassonto spectators and sent two baby to the infirmary for cuts and bruises . They were relinquish hours later without any serious hurt , and their father toldThe New York Times,“we plan to go back to the parade next yr . ”
8. The Keith Haring Balloon Spooks News Anchors
In2008 , Macy ’s debuted a balloon urge by the art of Keith Haring , and the 48 - foot - tall balloon by all odds made an impression . At one point in time , the massive figure knocked into the booth where Al Roker , Meredith Viera , and Matt Lauer were covering the parade , galvanise the threeTodayshow anchor and briefly disrupting the program .
A translation of this article originally ran in 2020 ; it has been updated for 2022 .
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