Article 56 Dropping of articles and animals
Articles and animals (whether or not attached to a parachute) shall not be dropped, or permitted to drop, from an aircraft in flight so as to endanger persons or property.
Subject to paragraph (3), except under and in accordance with the terms of an aerial application certificate granted under article 58 of this Order, articles and animals (whether or not attached to a parachute) shall not be dropped, or permitted to drop, to the surface from an aircraft flying over the United Kingdom.
Paragraph (2) shall not apply to the dropping of articles by, or with the authority of, the commander of the aircraft in any of the following circumstances:
the dropping of articles for the purpose of saving life;
the jettisoning, in case of emergency, of fuel or other articles in the aircraft;
the dropping of ballast in the form of fine sand or water;
the dropping of articles solely for the purpose of navigating the aircraft in accordance with ordinary practice or with the provisions of this Order;
the dropping at an aerodrome of tow ropes, banners, or similar articles towed by aircraft;
the dropping of articles for the purposes of public health or as a measure against weather conditions, surface icing or oil pollution, or for training for the dropping of articles for any such purposes, if the articles are dropped with the permission of the CAA and in accordance with any conditions subject to which that permission may have been given; or
the dropping of wind drift indicators for the purpose of enabling parachute descents to be made if the wind drift indicators are dropped with the permission of the CAA and in accordance with any conditions subject to which that permission may have been given.
For the purposes of this article ‘dropping’ includes projecting and lowering.
Nothing in this article shall prohibit the lowering of any article or animal from a helicopter to the surface, if the certificate of airworthiness issued or rendered valid in respect of the helicopter under the law of the country in which it is registered includes an express provision that it may be used for that purpose.