Today in History - January 30: Family circus act disaster triggers a long run of tragedies
Several of the Wallendas troupe cling for the lives after a stunt went awry. Nine Archives
A famed family circus act's long run of good luck came to a tragic end on January 30, 1962.
The Flying Wallendas had stunned crowds across the United States for decades by performing acrobatics without a safety net.
But in one of their most dangerous stunts, things went awry at Detroit's State Fair Coliseum.
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Karl Wallenda's circus troupe was marred by repeated tragedies. Supplied
The Flying Wallendas, named for founder Karl Wallenda, were performing their seven-person chair pyramid.
The front man on the wire lost his balance and the structure collapsed, and three acrobats fell to the ground.
Wallenda's son-in-law Richard Faughnan and nephew Dieter Schepp were both killed. His adopted son Mario was paralysed from the waist down.
The circus staff on the ground rushed to set up a net for the remaining acrobats dangling for their life.
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Two of these acrobats would die in botched stunts. Supplied
One other acrobat, Schepp's sister Jana, fell into the net but bounced out and suffered a head injury.
Wallenda decided to keep the group performing, but the tragedies did not end there.
The following year, Wallenda's sister-in-law fell to her death when she fainted during an act.
In 1972, his other son-in-law, Richard Guzman, was electrocuted after touching a live electric wire in the rigging.
And Wallenda himself, by this point an older man, kept doing high-wire stunts.
In a televised stunt in 1978, the 73-year-old did a high-wire walk between two towers of a Puerto Rican hotel.
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Karl Wallenda was a daredevil high-wire walker well into his 70s. Nine Archives
Dealing with high winds and an improperly secured wire, Wallenda lost his balance and fell 37 metres to his death.
In spite of this, his family has not given up their daredevil ways.
Karl's great-grandson Nik Wallenda walked on a high-wire across Niagara Falls in 2012.
The Flying Wallendas remain a touring circus act.
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