Canadian NORAD Region Names Santa's Escort Pilots

As Christmas gets closer, the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region has put the finishing touches on plans to track and escort Santa Claus when he visits Canada by naming four CF-18 fighter pilots as his official escorts.

Capts. Dave Moar and Craig Sharp of 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., and Capts. Colin Marks and Yannick Jobin of 3 Wing Bagotville, Que., will take on the responsibility of welcoming Santa when he arrives in Canada on his annual Christmas Eve journey, and escorting him safely through Canadian airspace.

The pilots will also take photos and video of Santa and his sleigh using special NORAD SantaCams mounted on their aircraft. The SantaCams instantly download the photo and video imagery so that it may be viewed by children worldwide on the NORAD Tracks Santa website, http://www.noradsanta.org/, on December 24. All of this information will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.

In coordination with the North Pole, NORAD has been informed that Santa intends to begin his journey at 4 a.m. EST, on Dec. 24. The Canadian Air Defence Sector Operations Centre at 22 Wing in North Bay, Ont., will alert NORAD when their radars detect Santa entering Canadian airspace. Two CF-18 Hornet fighter jets from 3 Wing will welcome Santa as he enters Canadian airspace off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. As Santa flies across Canada from east to west, two CF-18 Hornets from 4 Wing will escort him out of Canadian airspace and turn over escort duties to the Continental U.S. NORAD Region so that he may continue his Yuletide trip.Children can also receive updates on Santa's Christmas Eve journey by calling the traditional "NORAD Tracks Santa" telephone hotline at 1-877-HI NORAD, or by emailing NORAD at noradtrackssanta@gmail.com.

Last year, the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center was staffed by more than 750 volunteers on Christmas Eve, who answered nearly 65,000 phone calls and 9,600 emails from children around the world.

NORAD uses a network of ground-based radars, sensors, air-to-air refuelling tankers, and fighter jets to detect, intercept and, if necessary, engage any threats to the continent. NORAD personnel are on duty 24 hours a day protecting North America.

NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center

Beginning at 2:00 am MTN on Christmas Eve, you can track Santa Live as he makes his historic journey around the world! This is exciting, as Santa travels fast and NORAD Santa Cams take photos of Santa and his reindeer!

Download Google Earth in preparation for tracking Santa in 3D on Christmas Eve.