Narrative:

On 8/mon/90 our company received a flight request for a ping-pong drop from 1 of our helicopters on 9/sat/90. The man that made the request called back 2 days later and furnished me with the details of the requested flight. He informed me that he had been dating a lady who lived just outside of the town of seneca, sc, and that instead of ping-pong balls that said 'I love you' on them, he wanted to drop flowers at the sight. When I questioned him on the sight for the flower drop he said it was outside of the town of seneca and that she had a large yard and it would accommodate hovering over her property. He also stated that he had been dating this lady for 7 yrs and that after this flower drop he was going to ask her to marry him. On the morning of the flight this gentleman arrived at our hangar with 5 cases of long stemmed, 2 boxes of printed sheets, 3 stuffed animals, a garbage sack consisting of the following: ribbons, cracker jacks, book matches with his company name on them. After making sure that the flowers were unbundled, and there were no dangerous items to be dropped, we took off with him in the back seat of the helicopter and the director of main joined us by sitting in front with me. As I arrived in seneca I asked him which way to go to get to his girlfriend's house. At that time he pointed to a house in town that was not as he described. It was not outside of town although it was not in a heavily populated area. I stated that we could go over the house and look it over better. As I started to circle the house he immediately started throwing items out of the helicopter. At that time I felt the only thing I could do was to try to contain the location of the drop to that property. This was accomplished by hovering over an open area to the north of the house. This open area did not have any houses on it and her house was the only one on that half of the block. After the items were dropped and we had returned to our hangar, I received a call from the seneca police department to inform me that the flower drop was not well received. They defined the relationship between our customer and the lady of the house as a 'fatal attraction.' they also informed me that this lady was married to the city councilman. Also, I received a phone call from the councilman informing me that he was going to file a suit against this man, and that he was a private aircraft pilot and that he knew I was below the 1000' altitude limit. I tried to explain that the man started dropping these items before I could control him, and also I had to go to a lower altitude to keep these items from landing on other people or property. His comment to me was that he, the police, and anyone else that he could talk to were going to file a complaint to the FAA. Correction action: there will be no more unsanctioned drops from our helicopter. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following: no action taken against helicopter pilot or his company by the local police or the FAA. National tv program got a hold of the story and did a program on this event. Charter passenger will be thoroughly interviewed before any more flts like this are contracted.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CHARTERED ATX HELICOPTER HAS PASSENGER MAKE UNAUTH DROP OF FLOWERS AND PAPERS OVER POPULATED AREA.

Narrative: ON 8/MON/90 OUR COMPANY RECEIVED A FLT REQUEST FOR A PING-PONG DROP FROM 1 OF OUR HELIS ON 9/SAT/90. THE MAN THAT MADE THE REQUEST CALLED BACK 2 DAYS LATER AND FURNISHED ME WITH THE DETAILS OF THE REQUESTED FLT. HE INFORMED ME THAT HE HAD BEEN DATING A LADY WHO LIVED JUST OUTSIDE OF THE TOWN OF SENECA, SC, AND THAT INSTEAD OF PING-PONG BALLS THAT SAID 'I LOVE YOU' ON THEM, HE WANTED TO DROP FLOWERS AT THE SIGHT. WHEN I QUESTIONED HIM ON THE SIGHT FOR THE FLOWER DROP HE SAID IT WAS OUTSIDE OF THE TOWN OF SENECA AND THAT SHE HAD A LARGE YARD AND IT WOULD ACCOMMODATE HOVERING OVER HER PROPERTY. HE ALSO STATED THAT HE HAD BEEN DATING THIS LADY FOR 7 YRS AND THAT AFTER THIS FLOWER DROP HE WAS GOING TO ASK HER TO MARRY HIM. ON THE MORNING OF THE FLT THIS GENTLEMAN ARRIVED AT OUR HANGAR WITH 5 CASES OF LONG STEMMED, 2 BOXES OF PRINTED SHEETS, 3 STUFFED ANIMALS, A GARBAGE SACK CONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING: RIBBONS, CRACKER JACKS, BOOK MATCHES WITH HIS COMPANY NAME ON THEM. AFTER MAKING SURE THAT THE FLOWERS WERE UNBUNDLED, AND THERE WERE NO DANGEROUS ITEMS TO BE DROPPED, WE TOOK OFF WITH HIM IN THE BACK SEAT OF THE HELI AND THE DIRECTOR OF MAIN JOINED US BY SITTING IN FRONT WITH ME. AS I ARRIVED IN SENECA I ASKED HIM WHICH WAY TO GO TO GET TO HIS GIRLFRIEND'S HOUSE. AT THAT TIME HE POINTED TO A HOUSE IN TOWN THAT WAS NOT AS HE DESCRIBED. IT WAS NOT OUTSIDE OF TOWN ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT IN A HEAVILY POPULATED AREA. I STATED THAT WE COULD GO OVER THE HOUSE AND LOOK IT OVER BETTER. AS I STARTED TO CIRCLE THE HOUSE HE IMMEDIATELY STARTED THROWING ITEMS OUT OF THE HELI. AT THAT TIME I FELT THE ONLY THING I COULD DO WAS TO TRY TO CONTAIN THE LOCATION OF THE DROP TO THAT PROPERTY. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY HOVERING OVER AN OPEN AREA TO THE N OF THE HOUSE. THIS OPEN AREA DID NOT HAVE ANY HOUSES ON IT AND HER HOUSE WAS THE ONLY ONE ON THAT HALF OF THE BLOCK. AFTER THE ITEMS WERE DROPPED AND WE HAD RETURNED TO OUR HANGAR, I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SENECA POLICE DEPT TO INFORM ME THAT THE FLOWER DROP WAS NOT WELL RECEIVED. THEY DEFINED THE RELATIONSHIP BTWN OUR CUSTOMER AND THE LADY OF THE HOUSE AS A 'FATAL ATTRACTION.' THEY ALSO INFORMED ME THAT THIS LADY WAS MARRIED TO THE CITY COUNCILMAN. ALSO, I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM THE COUNCILMAN INFORMING ME THAT HE WAS GOING TO FILE A SUIT AGAINST THIS MAN, AND THAT HE WAS A PVT ACFT PLT AND THAT HE KNEW I WAS BELOW THE 1000' ALT LIMIT. I TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT THE MAN STARTED DROPPING THESE ITEMS BEFORE I COULD CTL HIM, AND ALSO I HAD TO GO TO A LOWER ALT TO KEEP THESE ITEMS FROM LNDG ON OTHER PEOPLE OR PROPERTY. HIS COMMENT TO ME WAS THAT HE, THE POLICE, AND ANYONE ELSE THAT HE COULD TALK TO WERE GOING TO FILE A COMPLAINT TO THE FAA. CORRECTION ACTION: THERE WILL BE NO MORE UNSANCTIONED DROPS FROM OUR HELI. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: NO ACTION TAKEN AGAINST HELI PLT OR HIS COMPANY BY THE LCL POLICE OR THE FAA. NATL TV PROGRAM GOT A HOLD OF THE STORY AND DID A PROGRAM ON THIS EVENT. CHARTER PAX WILL BE THOROUGHLY INTERVIEWED BEFORE ANY MORE FLTS LIKE THIS ARE CONTRACTED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.