Fighter pilot to escort Santa seen as hero by his kids

Published: December 23, 2005 | 3097th good news item since 2003

Even governments are eager to keep Santa safe in the skies and in the hearts of children.

While Norad’s job is to detect and intercept any threats to North America, it has taken on an additional assignment every Christmas Eve for the past 50 years.

The Canadian Air Defence Sector Operations Centre alerts Norad when Santa is entering Canadian airspace and two CF-18 Hornet fighters meet Santa and make sure he and his sleigh have a safe journey through Canadian skies.

‘‘I’m not privy to his route for this year, he could be coming from the west, could be north, could be south,’’ Lieut. Chris Courtemanche said from the public affairs office at 3 Wing, Bagotville, Que.

‘‘That is why we have our radar stations on standby — to figure out where he is going to come from and we’ll basically be with Santa for his entire stay in Canadian airspace.’’

The Norad website tells the story of how the tradition of tracking Santa began.

In 1955, a store in Colorado Springs carried an advertisement giving children a special hotline number to call Santa, but it included a misprint. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids in touch with the commander-in-chief of the Continental Air Defence Command (Norad’s predecessor).

The director of operations, Col. Harry Shoup, received a call on Christmas Eve from a child wanting to talk with Santa. Realizing what had happened, Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way from the North Pole.

The children who called were given updates on Santa’s position.

In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States formed Norad and together continued Santa tracking.

Instead of calling, kids can log onto www.noradsanta.org to watch Santa’s progress on Christmas Eve.

Maj. Alex Day with 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron in Cold Lake, Alta., is one of four Canadian fighter pilots who will be escorting Santa this year.

‘‘Oh yeah! This is great,’’ Day said of his first mission tracking Santa. ‘‘This definitely adds a little bit of excitement and gives purpose to what we are doing.’’

Published in Kids & Teens
See also: www.brandonsun.com