While the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is synonymous with fun, family and holiday cheer for many, the annual event has been plagued by horrific mishaps and dangerous accidents that have left numerous people hospitalized.

The first ever Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade occurred in 1924 as a bid to promote the newly-opened toy department at Macy’s New York City store.

Macy’s employees marched through the streets of New York wearing vibrant costumes. They enlisted professional bands, had floats pulled by horses and even borrowed live animals like elephants, monkeys, camels, tigers and bears from the Central Park Zoo.

A whopping 250,000 people attended the first year, and following its success, Macy’s decided it would become an annual tradition.

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In 1927, Macy’s enlisted puppeteers Tony Sarg and Bil Baird to build five massive animal-shaped balloons for the parade… and the rest is history.

Now, over a decade on, every year on Thanksgiving millions of people gather in New York City to watch the iconic parade in person. It has become a holiday staplefor families all across the globe as millions tune in at home as they prepare their turkey and get ready for a day of fun.

The parade is filled with dazzling performances, celebrity appearances and of course, the iconic huge balloons that are carried by dozens of handlers from the top of the city to Macy’s flagship store on 34th street.

But underneath its gleaming reputation lies an unsettling history of devastating incidents and disasters that have resulted in many scary injuries.

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From a balloon that erupted in flames after hitting a wire to balloons that became out of control due to gusts of wind, relive the worst Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade mishaps in history.

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Balloon burst into flames after gliding into a wire in 1931

In the 1920s and early ’30s when the parade was first finding its footing, Macy’s would release the balloons into the sky at the end of the parade and let them float away.

It then offered cash prizes to those who found them and returned them to the store first in what was viewed as a fun competition.

However, in 1931, the first dangerous mishap occurred when one of the released balloons glided into a high tension wire.

The balloon, which was shaped like a popular toy at the time called Felix the Cat, burst into flames are coming into contact with the wire, according to a report from the New York Times at the time.

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Plane crashed straight into a balloon in 1932

One year later, a young woman who was desperate to win the competition crashed her plane into the Tom Cat balloon.

Student pilot Annett Gipson, 22, was flying with her instructor Hugh Copeland when they came across the balloon and decided to hit it in an attempt to capture it.

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The balloon wrapped around the left wing, causing the plane to go into a tailspin.

As it plunged down towards the city, the balloon thankfully came free and they were able to land safety.

The incident, along with the fire the year prior, put an end to the balloons being released after the parade.

Balloon slammed into a metal pole in 1993, injuring two people

In 1993, multiple people were hurt when high winds pushed the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a lamppost.

The top of the metal pole was knocked into the balloon, dragging it down and injuring two people in the process.

An off-duty police officer broke his shoulder and a 10-year-old girl suffered minor injuries.

Balloon knocked a piece of metal into a crowd in 1997, leaving a woman in a coma

Arguably the most infamous incident in parade history occurred in 1997, when intense winds caused a 78-foot-tall Cat in the Hat balloon to crash into a streetlight.

Part of the light fell off into the crowd below, resulting in four people getting injured, including one woman who fractured her skull and was in a coma for weeks.

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She later sued Macy’s and New York City and they ultimately reached ‘a multimillion-dollar settlement,’ per the New York Post.

The wind also impacted other balloons that year: the Barney the Dinosaur balloon became out of control before it crashed into a lamppost and deflated, while the Pink Panther balloon popped and nearly smothered a handler who got caught underneath.

After the events, many safety regulations were put in place including size restrictions for the balloons, the removal of all lamppost arms on the parade route and training and lessons in balloon physics for the handlers.

Balloon hit a lamppost and sent debris flying into the crowd in 2005

Despite the new safety regulations, another terrifying mishap occurred in 2005, when the M&M’s balloon hit a streetlight.

Debris from the light fell off and hit two woman, who were hospitalized with minor injuries.

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safety measures were added afterwards, including the installation of wind measurement devices to alert parade organizers of any unsafe conditions.