* * * * *
                                        
                      A rabbit hole of turkey proportions
                                        
I'm searching Youtube [1] for the “WKRP in Cincinnati” turkey clip [2] when I
fell into this rabbit hole I was never expecting. The bit from “WKRP in
Cincinnati” (one of the funniest bits on television) was inspried by an
embellshed story of a real event decades prior [3]. But I was completely
gobsmacked by this 2016 news report [4] of an actual, real life, “live turkey
drop,” in Arkansas.

… 

**WHAT?** 

My mind is blown. Comedy and satire just can't compete with real life
anymore.

So I start down this particular rabbit hole, and while the Yellville,
Arkansas Chamber of Commerce no longer sponsors the festival [5], it's still
unclear if the turkey drop has actually stopped?

… 

**WHAT?** 

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) [6] apparently can't stop it:

> “FAA regulations do not specifically prohibit dropping live animals from
> aircraft, possibly because the authors of the regulation never anticipated
> that an explicit prohibition would be necessary,” an FAA (Federal Aviation
> Administration) spokesman told HuffPost in an email. “This does not mean we
> endorse the practice.” 
> 

“The FAA Can't Stop People From Throwing Live Turkeys Out Of Planes |
HuffPost [7]”

… 

**WHAT?** 

Well, yeah, that makes a weird type of sense, but still … 

> … “The Federal Air Administration has deemed it legal for this act to occur
> at our festival as long as it is performed within the parameters that they
> have set forth.” 
> 
> “The phantom pilot is named as such for a reason. There is no airstrip in
> Yellville and therefore we do not have any authority in terms of flight
> control,” it added. “Furthermore, Chamber board members, Turkey Trot
> sponsors, and Chamber members have absolutely no affiliation, jurisdiction,
> or control over what any individual does in his or her private plane in the
> air.” 
> 
> … 
> 
> The FAA said Monday it was aware of Saturday’s drop. The agency hasn’t
> intervened in past years because the birds aren’t considered projectiles.
> 

“FAA looking into Arkansas festival's turkey drop [8]”

… 

**WHAT?** 

All the articles I can find on this date from 2015 to 2018. I can't find
anything that has said definitively that the turkey drop has actually stopped
for good, but it may appear to have stopped. I don't know.

But this is not something I was expecting to find—an actual turkey drop.

Sheesh.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg
[3] https://www.cbr.com/tv-legends-was-wkrps-famous-turkey
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3MbCNodleI
[5] https://arktimes.com/arkansas-
[6] https://www.faa.gov/
[7] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/faa-turkey-drop-yellville-
[8] https://wreg.com/news/faa-

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

.