Candy Drop

[NunavutPA-12]

I've been asked to do a candy drop over the local ball field on Canada Day 2016.

It's been done frequently (at least in the north), but I don't want to violate any regulations.

Can candy be perceived as "creating a hazard to persons or property"?

What altitude would be legal? I can glide to an adjacent road for an emergency landing.

Or should I just say no?

[cdnpilot77]

A former company I worked for did this once on a remote northern reserve from a helicopter.....except it wasn't candy.....it was envelopes of cash being dropped to the crowd below during their festival!! Wish I was kidding.

[FICU]

Marshmallows might be ok

Probably not legal unless it's over private property.

[Cessna driver]

A former company I worked for did this once on a remote northern reserve from a helicopter.....except it wasn't candy.....it was envelopes of cash being dropped to the crowd below during their festival!! Wish I was kidding.

[Bacunayagua]

Dropping of Objects

602.23 No person shall create a hazard to persons or property on the surface by dropping an object from an aircraft in flight.

You can drop whatever you like as long as 602.23 isn't violated.

As to how low you can go, here is the relevant CARs

Minimum Altitudes and Distances

602.14 (1)
(2) Except where conducting a take-off, approach or landing or where permitted under section 602.15, no person shall operate an aircraft
(a) over a built-up area or over an open-air assembly of persons unless the aircraft is operated at an altitude from which, in the event of an emergency necessitating an immediate landing, it would be possible to land the aircraft without creating a hazard to persons or property on the surface, and, in any case, at an altitude that is not lower than
(i) for aeroplanes, 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle located within a horizontal distance of 2,000 feet from the aeroplane,
(ii) for balloons, 500 feet above the highest obstacle located within a horizontal distance of 500 feet from the balloon, or
(iii) for an aircraft other than an aeroplane or a balloon, 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle located within a horizontal distance of 500 feet from the aircraft; and
(b) in circumstances other than those referred to in paragraph (a), at a distance less than 500 feet from any person, vessel, vehicle or structure.


I believe thats about it in regards to applicable CARs.

Can candy be perceived as "creating a hazard to persons or property"?

As long as the candy doesn't hurt anyone or damage anything. If any of the candy you dropped hits someone in the eye and they want to come after you, who knows what will happen.

[Redneck_pilot86]

Your best bet would be to call transport and ask.

[schleprock]

Sorry for the drift, but couldn't resist adding the link for the WKRP in Cincinnati turkey drop

https://youtu.be/lf3mgmEdfwg

[round pounder]

About 18 years ago I used to drop a sleeve of snuff for an old native trapper every two weeks. I made sure the sleeve was well taped and added orange flagging. After doing this for months on end I was getting pretty good at it till he took a sleeve of Copenhagen straight to the pumpkin. Knocked him flat on his ass, guess the $25 wasn't that much money for me to land and hand it to him. God that was funny, but back to now. I don't think a candy drop is cool anymore. It was synonymous in the north but CARs say no. Sad. It was a great way to give the kids an adventure. But if little Johnny gets an M&M in the eye its lawsuit city. Good luck

[Siddley Hawker]

Johnny May started that whole candy drop thing back when Kuujjuaq was known as Fort Chimo.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_-mLcpmFc[/youtube]

[NunavutPA-12]

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to think hard about this.

Much as I hate to, I'll probably have to say no.

[Changes in Latitudes]

Don't forget that everything you do will be filmed and will be used against you if some person is remotely offended or given PTSD from falling candy because it is against their belief system. Just look at this place

[Meddler]

How depressing.

Why don't you find some little bags of marshmallows and maybe some of those minni donuts? Hard to imagine those being too dangerous.

Better stay away from the tennis ball sized gobstoppers.

[HiFlyChick]

I did a drop once years ago from a 172 - the field that I scoped out on the ground never looked so small as when I was trying to get the timing right with the candy! We had everyone held back behind a rope until the airplane was past, but since it was actually a public park (provincial), there's no stopping other people from wandering by. Sure enough, all of our picnickers were exactly where they should be, and a guy wanders up to the edge of the field from the opposite side (I learned all of this later from someone on the ground). There was a sloped area with steps leading down to the field, so he sat on the steps to try and figure out what this crowd was waiting for. Well, as we made our overhead pass, two main factors affected us - (1) we didn't account for (candy) drift from the (light) wind and (2) the overly large bag of candy folded back on itself when I opened the window, so I was a second or so late getting it out. The end result was that as the stranger heard our engine, he looked up as candy rained down around him, and with the wind, a bunch of it went past the edge of the field, landing in tall grass and a bit into a wooded area. At least it gave the kids a lot to do - not so easy to find the candy as I had planned!

I laugh at it now, but we could have gotten fined for littering, sued by the guy, had the book thrown at us by TC - I was young and stupid and just thought, "Hey what a fun idea...!" You probably should ask TC what they think - sadly they'll most likely require you to draw up some sort of plan or apply for some special permit, or maybe get a SFOC - who knows...! But it'd suck if in order to give some kids a few hours of fun you ended up with your licence or financial future in jeopardy.

[7ECA]

Remember, you only get one pass before they know what happened, and then they'll be ready...

Paraphrasing an SSU quote from a while back.

[Siddley Hawker]

If you should decide to go ahead, take every precaution. Have the kids wear bicycle helmets, protective eyewear and reflective vests.

[C-206]

Reading makes Hulk angry. Hulk Smash...

[single_swine_herder]

If you should decide to go ahead, take every precaution. Have the kids wear bicycle helmets, protective eyewear and reflective vests.

How could you expose them pore chillin's to that danger without them wearing steel-toed boots?

[Chris M]

If you should decide to go ahead, take every precaution. Have the kids wear bicycle helmets, protective eyewear and reflective vests.

How could you expose them pore chillin's to that danger without them wearing steel-toed boots?

Put them in Zorb balls:

[GyvAir]

Put them in Zorb balls:

This sounds like another sport in the making. Two kids per ball/team, two 3" circles left open for ventilation and reaching out to pick up candy, once they've managed to calculate the proper path/maneuver that will place the hole within arm's reach of that fun-sized Reese's in the grass.
Team building, spatial analysis, coordination.. all sorts of beneficial skill exercises!