# Dropping turkeys from a helicopter? Thailand says "Hold my beer!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2023, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346 "2023-01-17T07:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/1 "2023-01-17T07:40:04Z")
[Thailand: Helicopter dropping sweets destroys stadium | Metro News](https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/16/thailand-helicopter-dropping-sweets-destroys-stadium-18108842/) They were supposed to drop sweets over a stadium from a helicopter to celebrate “National Children’s Day” . The downdraft destroyed a section of the roof, children and adults were pelted with candy and were injured, and a woman had her neck broken. There is no truth to early reports that the event was organized by a Mr. Arthur Carlson. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/2 "2023-01-17T07:54:24Z")
[[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/OfMRgmV.png?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/E5l8Sd4) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/3 "2023-01-17T07:57:32Z")
I’m reminded of a certain “cabin pressure” episode (2.4 “Johannesburg”) > CAROLYN: But, of course, you were just warming up! Because not only did you steal my aircraft, you then chose to mark your arrival at the children’s birthday party by dropping a bomb on it. > > DOUGLAS: The idea was perfectly sound!It occurred to me that if we filled the air brake cavity with boiled sweets and then opened it just as we were flying over … > > CAROLYN: … you could strafe your daughter’s birthday party. > > DOUGLAS: No, not ‘strafe’! We weren’t going anything like fast enough! And we were quite sure the sweets would flutter gently down to the excited children beneath. And so they would have done, if it hadn’t been rather a hot day and the sweets in the metal compartment hadn’t melted a little and then, up in the cold air, solidified again into a… > > CAROLYN: … a sugar brick. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/4 "2023-01-17T09:55:34Z")
I mean, it _sounds_ like a reasonable - and indeed rather fun - idea… ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/5 "2023-01-17T13:36:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > he downdraft destroyed a section of the roof, children and adults were pelted with candy and were injured, and a woman had her neck broken. Brilliant. You would think that the Thai Navy officials who planned the helicopter drop would understand that directing all of its downwash onto a structure is the equivalent of parking the helicopter itself on said structure; no wonder the tents collapsed. Not only that, but the speed of the downwash a short distance below the helicopter is pretty high and assures the candy gets propelled downward at injurious speed. Things probably would have been fine if they had just performed the drop from a higher altitude, giving the downwash a chance to spread out and slow down. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/6 "2023-01-17T17:18:32Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m reminded of a certain “cabin pressure” episode (2.4 “Johannesburg”) I thought of this immediately. That poor fish… ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/7 "2023-01-17T17:24:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I thought of this immediately. That poor fish… But it did have a secondary money-saving benefit if you recall, by way of an unusual in-flight dining option. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/8 "2023-01-17T17:33:53Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > … > Things probably would have been fine if they had just performed the drop from a higher altitude, giving the downwash a chance to spread out and slow down. I guess it depends on what level of “fine” you are comfortable with. Regardless of height, the pieces of candy will be traveling at terminal velocity, which even for a piece of candy wrapped in cellophane, is likely to be high enough to cause injury. No, in my book, the only way to make it fine would have been for the helicopter to have landed and they handed the candy out personally to the spectators. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/9 "2023-01-17T18:05:33Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I guess it depends on what level of “fine” you are comfortable with. Regardless of height, the pieces of candy will be traveling at terminal velocity, which even for a piece of candy wrapped in cellophane, is likely to be high enough to cause injury. > > No, in my book, the only way to make it fine would have been for the helicopter to have landed and they handed the candy out personally to the spectators. The alternative is to go low enough so that the candy doesn’t end up going terribly fast by the time it hits the ground (or kids). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gfp9OXfZ5Dw/maxresdefault.jpg "the great helicopter candy drop 2022") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfp9OXfZ5Dw&t=25) ---
**Author:** ![mattgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mattgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattgg)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/10 "2023-01-17T18:13:30Z")
The way they did it at the local minor league baseball park was to keep the kids behind a rope as the candy was dropped. Once all of the candy had hit the ground and the helicopter had flown away they unleashed the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/11 "2023-01-17T18:17:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The downdraft destroyed a section of the roof, children and adults were pelted with candy and were injured, and a woman had her neck broken. Is this some kind of “Onion” thing? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/12 "2023-01-17T18:22:30Z")
No. It was also reported in The Mirror and The Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/13 "2023-01-17T18:26:34Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > The alternative is to go low enough so that the candy doesn’t end up going terribly fast by the time it hits the ground (or kids). What if you used a t-shirt cannon from the ground? Kinda like a shotgun shell - lots of little projectiles coming out of the cannon. I would think there wouldn’t be enough velocity or height to do any damage, and would spread pretty quickly out of the muzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/14 "2023-01-17T18:34:55Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Is this some kind of “Onion” thing? Check the article linked in the OP. There’s a video showing it all happening. The “destroyed a stadium” headline is a bit of an overstatement, but there were some high rain canopies held up by steel trusswork, and the heli’s downwash flattened them onto the crowd. The candy drop might have stung, but I’ll wager it was those collapsing canopies that caused most/all of the hospital visits. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-turkeys-from-a-helicopter-thailand-says-hold-my-beer/978346/15 "2023-01-18T00:02:25Z")
He really hit his stride in series 2.