Thanksgiving feels like the right time to confirm that the town of Yellville, Ark., this year did break with tradition and did not punctuate its October Turkey Trot Festival by dropping live turkeys from an airplane ... though it may next year. According to the Arkansas Times blog, the drop was effectively discouraged when the FAA promised to send observers and to enforce FAR 91.15. (The regulation prohibits pilots from dropping any object from an aircraft if it "creates a hazard to persons or property.") An effort by PETA also offered a $5,000 reward for the identity of the "phantom pilot" responsible for the drop flight. And so, the 2011 Yellville Turkey Trot Festival turkey drop didn't happen. Other popular festival events -- the Miss Drumsticks Competition, for example -- went on without a hitch. And the phantom pilot, or someone posing as that pilot, has vowed to return, according to the Arkansas Times.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/turkey-drop-aborted-pilot-vows-return