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U.S. NEWS Saturday 14 OctOber 2017

American Living:

Dropping turkeys from planes triggers Arkansas festival flap

By KELLY P. KISSEL least two turkeys died last
Associated Press year when they crashed
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — To to the ground in what was
some it’s an Ozark Moun- undoubtedly, for them, a
tain Mardi Gras that in- terrifying fall,” one critic
cludes live turkeys being emailed the chamber.
dropped from a low-flying The Federal Aviation Ad-
plane to an eager crowd ministration said it hadn’t
below. To others, it’s just been contacted by any pi-
animal abuse. lots about making a run this
The 72nd Yellville Turkey Trot year, as it had in previous
opened Friday with ques- years.
tions over whether the tur- “FAA regulations don’t spe-
key drop portion would cifically deal with dropping
continue. The Chamber of live animals out of airplanes,
Commerce for the small so we have no authority to
northern Arkansas city has prohibit the practice. This
distanced itself from the does not mean we en-
tradition it once endorsed dorse it,” spokesman Lynn
and is hoping a “phan- Lunsford said. “We sent an
tom pilot” won’t fly over inspector to the first day of
this weekend. But that the event (last year) to ver-
hasn’t stopped thousands ify that the drops were oc-
of people from emailing In this Oct. 7, 2016, photo, an airplane passes over the Yellville Turkey Trot in Yellville, Ark., while curring where the pilot said
someone aboard drops a live turkey to the ground. The Federal Aviation Administration said Thurs-
the chamber about doing day, Oct. 12, 2017, that it had an investigator at the fair in 2016 and that the pilot complied with they would. Based on that,
more to protect the birds. the plan to drop turkeys away from a crowded area. Organizers are hoping that a “phantom pilot” we found no evidence to
“Why don’t you jump your- won’t pass over the town this weekend and drop live turkeys, as has been done for decades. pursue an enforcement
selves with no parachute. (Jason Ivester /Arkansas Gazette via AP) case.”
... Think you’ll like it?” one many. ... Turkey Trot is so key drops from the festival We’re good to them.” A woman filed a com-
person wrote to the cham- much more than turkeys lineup. But local pilots kept Wild turkeys can fly, but plaint this month with the
ber Monday. being released from an air- it up, though there were no they typically do so from local prosecutor in an ef-
Others used more colorful plane.” flights for a time after an tree top to tree top. Ques- fort to prevent the flights,
language. The festival started a year animal rights group offered tions over their ability to fly but nothing has come of it.
Arkansas is one of the na- after World War II as a com- a $5,000 reward for the pi- made for a “WKRP in Cin- Bill Sadler, a spokesman for
tion’s top turkey-producing plement to a turkey calling lot’s arrest. The aerial as- cinnati” episode in 1978 af- the Arkansas State Police,
states, and the weekend contest run by the local sault resumed in 2015, and ter a radio station stunt in- said his agency typically
festival is meant to be a cel- American Legion hall. Dur- last year a Mountain View volving birds dropped from doesn’t work misdemeanor
ebration of the bird. There is ing the first turkey drops, pharmacist, Dana Woods, a helicopter went horribly cases. Any investigation
a 5K run, music and danc- which helped the festival said he was “The Phantom awry. would likely occur after a
ing, and the Miss Drumsticks draw a crowd, the birds Pilot” at the past two festi- Last year, about a dozen flight, not before one.
pageant, in which contes- were dropped from the vals. He wasn’t punished, birds were dropped and “We have no jurisdiction to
tants are judged only on courthouse roof for people nor were others who have not all survived the fall. say you cannot put a tur-
their legs. Of course, turkey to chase, with some be- been identified as previous “Despite officials’ insistence key on an airplane,” Sadler
also stars on food vendors’ coming pets and the oth- flyers. that this is ‘humane,’ at said.q
menus. ers Thanksgiving dinner. But “They can fly a long ways,”
“It means fall is here,” the at least 50 years ago, the Woods told the Arkansas
Yellville Chamber of Com- switch was made to a small Democrat-Gazette last
merce wrote in an open plane. year. “We treat the tur-
letter. “It means a turkey A 1989 National Enquirer ar- keys right. That may sound
dinner a few weeks earlier ticle on the flights sparked ironic, but we don’t abuse
than the rest of America. outrage and prompted those turkeys. We coddle
It means homecoming for the chamber to cut tur- and pet those turkeys.