North Pole Chat Explores the Test Flights
In today’s North Pole Chat I discussed the recent crash of a test flight of Santa’s sleigh and just how those test flights work each year. Our guest was Elf Crash Murphy, Santa’s famed eye-in-the-sky reporter who just happens to know a lot about sleighs.
Crash talked about how he heard about the sleigh crash and just what happened with the test pilot and the reindeer of that flight.
Crash discussed why there are test flights of Santa’s sleigh and how they come about every year. It was a very insightful discuss about the inner-workings of sleigh flight at the North Pole – information you’ll find nowhere else. Here is a transcript of that discussion:
| Elf Ernest | Our chat with Elf Crash Murphy will begin at the top of the hour. |
| Elf Ulan | Hello Elf Ernest! |
| Elf Ernest | Hi Elf Ulan! |
| Elf Ernest | It’s nice to have you here |
| Elf Ulan | Thank you! I’m glad to hear that |
| Elf Ernest | Crash should be here any minute. |
| Elf Ulan | Okay! |
| Elf Ulan | How are you? |
| Elf Ernest | Doing ok. It’s been a busy week. How are things with you? |
| Crash Murphy | Well, well…I’m one minute early! |
| Elf Ernest | Hi Crash! |
| Crash Murphy | Hi Ernest |
| Elf Ulan | Hi Elf Crash! |
| Crash Murphy | Doesn’t look like much of a crowd here today. But Elf Ulan is here and that’s all I need! |
| Crash Murphy | Hi Elf Ulan |
| Crash Murphy | Pleasure to see you again |
| Elf Ernest | Crash, it’s been a big week and I have a lot of questions that have been sent in. |
| Crash Murphy | I bet you do! |
| Elf Ulan | Me too! |
| Crash Murphy | Go ahead, Ernest. I’ll do my best |
| Elf Ernest | First of all, where were you when you got the news about the sleigh crash this week? |
| Crash Murphy | I was in flight school. |
| Elf Ernest | Flight school? Are you becoming a sleigh pilot? |
| Crash Murphy | I’m already certified as a sleigh pilot, though I do not fly much in an official capacity. No, I’ve been attending sleigh traffic control school. |
| Elf Ernest | Oh! Wow – does that mean a career change is coming for you? |
| Crash Murphy | No. I have to become certified. It’s part of my present job. I can’t be in a sleigh behind Santa on Christmas Eve without it. |
| Elf Ernest | Oh really? I didn’t know that. |
| Crash Murphy | Yeah, I am actually behind in getting it and I told Santa I’d wrap it up this year. |
| Elf Ernest | That’s interesting. Why do you need sleigh traffic control training if you’re the one out there in the skies actually in a sleigh? |
| Crash Murphy | That’s a fair question. I have to sometimes interact with those guys, all over the world. And they have kind of their own language and their own way of communication. I have to understand all that. |
| Elf Ernest | Gee, I had no idea the job of being the eye-in-the-sky reporter required so much hard stuff. |
| Crash Murphy | It is more about being in a sleigh. Santa wants every safety precaution taken. I think the events of this week show the wisdom in that. |
| Elf Ernest | Yes, back to that – so you were in a class when the news came in. Who told you? |
| Crash Murphy | Elf Buck was teaching the course that day and someone handed him a note and he told the class. He had us all follow him into Flight Command to watch things happen. |
| Elf Ernest | Wow, what a great perspective! |
| Crash Murphy | Yes, it was total luck. But I learned a lot from all that. |
| Elf Ernest | Well, Crash – we have a lot of people out there concerned about Santa’s sleigh. |
| Crash Murphy | Yeah, I was talking to Elf Hugo and he told me the North Pole Post Office got slammed this week with the news. |
| Elf Ernest | Yes, I heard the same. |
| Elf Ernest | How do we calm people down about this? |
| Crash Murphy | Well, accidents happen. And everyone is okay. That’s the first thing. |
| Crash Murphy | I went with Santa, as you know, to the Jingle Bell and Santa made SURE everyone was okay. |
| Elf Ulan | Are their mental health okay too? |
| Elf Ernest | Yes, I heard about that too from your report. But is Santa’s sleigh going to be okay? |
| Crash Murphy | Yes, Elf Ulan. The sleigh pilot is concerned it was his fault. But they pretty much said he handled it perfectly. It was a sleigh problem, not a pilot issue. |
| Crash Murphy | And Ernest, as far as Santa’s sleigh goes, everything is okay. |
| Crash Murphy | We have plenty of time to get things fixed and I hear that’s really on the move already. |
| Elf Ulan | Okay, I feel relieved it |
| Elf Ernest | Yes, there are tracker alerts all over SantaTrackers.net today. What’s happening? |
| Elf Ulan | Yeah, I was surprised it too |
| Crash Murphy | Well, last I heard they have built 12 new redesigned sleighs to correct the problem they found after the crash. They need to swap out those new sleighs for the old ones down in the South Pacific right now. |
| Elf Ernest | Ok…but how would that result in all these alerts? |
| Crash Murphy | I haven’t heard for sure what their plan is, Ernest. And I haven’t been online to see those alerts myself. What are they saying? |
| Elf Ernest | Every sector is on alert. The Elf Supervisors are telling their trackers to be ready for action. |
| Crash Murphy | Every sector? |
| Elf Ernest | Yes, every single one of them. |
| Elf Ulan | Will they go to each sector at the same time? |
| Crash Murphy | Well they must be doing a repositioning. |
| Elf Ernest | What is that? |
| Crash Murphy | It’s a change of scenery from one place to another for the test flights. |
| Crash Murphy | They are on the line between Sectors 5 and 1 and obviously they are planning to move things somewhere else. |
| Elf Ernest | Any clue where they might be going? |
| Elf Ulan | Wow |
| Crash Murphy | Not yet, but I’ll try to find out. |
| Crash Murphy | When they put multiple sectors on alert like that it means they are getting ready to cover a lot of ground quickly. |
| Crash Murphy | Usually it affects two or three sectors. To have all five on alert is very unusual. |
| Elf Ernest | Do you think it is because they are swapping out the sleighs? |
| Crash Murphy | It might have something to do with it, but it might not. I think it depends more on what they are testing. |
| Elf Ulan | Do they need more pilots? |
| Crash Murphy | Sometimes it is a sleigh thing, sometimes it is elf training, sometimes it is performance in bad weather – it could be a bajillion things. I’ll tell you what, that sure explains my schedule this week. |
| Elf Ernest | What’s your schedule this week? |
| Crash Murphy | I’ve been told I’m going to simulator training at the RHQ in Sector 3 – South Africa, I think. |
| Elf Ernest | Bethlehem, South Africa? |
| Crash Murphy | Yes, that’s it! Never been there that I can remember |
| Elf Ernest | Wow |
| Elf Ernest | Elf Ulan was asking about the number of test pilots. That’s another question we got a lot of in the mail this week |
| Elf Ulan | I’ve been South Africa! |
| Crash Murphy | People would be surprised at how many test pilots there are. So no, they have enough of them. And reindeer too |
| Elf Ernest | How many test pilots are there? |
| Crash Murphy | You’ve been to South Africa, Elf Ulan? |
| Elf Ulan | Yes! |
| Crash Murphy | I’ve been there, of course, but only at night and I don’t remember the town of Bethlehem |
| Crash Murphy | Golly, Ernest. There are some 200 test pilots and more than 6000 reindeer used to handle the test flight schedule. |
| Elf Ernest | REALLY? Wow, why so many? |
| Crash Murphy | Well, there are 12 test sleighs. And they fly around the clock. So that’s three shifts per day for the pilots and the reindeer. Thousands of flights over the months before Christmas |
| Elf Ernest | Wow, that sleigh really gets tested! |
| Elf Ulan | Are all pilots and their reindeer working ? |
| Crash Murphy | It really does. That is why Santa has so much confidence in his sleigh when it takes off every year. |
| Crash Murphy | Elf Ulan, those test pilots and reindeer work a lot for this process, yes. They are all at work. |
| Elf Ernest | Crash, they said a design flaw caused the problem. But isn’t this basically the same sleigh as last year? |
| Elf Ulan | Wow, they are great job! |
| Crash Murphy | Yes, that’s the official findings. |
| Elf Ernest | How did Santa NOT crash the sleigh last year then? |
| Crash Murphy | That’s a fair question, Ernest. The sleigh crashed because of a combination of things at the time of the crash. Santa isn’t necessarily going to duplicate those things on his flight. |
| Elf Ernest | Well,….was Santa in danger? |
| Elf Ulan | I heard the new his sleigh changed some materials to light |
| Crash Murphy | Sleigh flight is a dangerous business just by itself, Ernest. Anything can go wrong, even for an expert pilot like Santa. But I don’t think he was in any danger last year |
| Crash Murphy | Yes, Ulan. They are always looking for ways to make the sleigh lighter and more nimble. |
| Crash Murphy | That’s another reason there are test flights – to give those materials real flight experience. |
| Elf Ernest | Crash – how do they guarantee Santa’s safety? |
| Crash Murphy | There are no guarantees, Ernest. If you knew what Santa went through on his flight every year you would be shocked. That’s why they test the sleigh so rigorously. |
| Elf Ernest | Are you saying things happen during Santa’s flight that we don’t hear about? |
| Crash Murphy | Oh yeah. |
| Elf Ernest | Why don’t you report those things? |
| Crash Murphy | Oh I report different stuff to flight command. But not everything gets out on the radio, Ernest. |
| Elf Ernest | Like what kind of stuff? |
| Crash Murphy | Well, one year in Nebraska Santa took down a fence. It was a new fence, something that wasn’t there the year before and it was dark and he didn’t see it. |
| Elf Ernest | Was anyone hurt? |
| Crash Murphy | No. But it scratched up the underside of that sleigh and it didn’t do that fence any favors. |
| Elf Ernest | So how was that handled? |
| Elf Ulan | The north Pole Navy help him too?! |
| Crash Murphy | Santa was a little irritated. He took some quick pictures, called to the Workshop sleigh and had the fence repaired that night. |
| Elf Ernest | The workshop sleigh? |
| Crash Murphy | Yeah, there’s a rotation of support sleighs who are in flight all night on Christmas Eve just in case something like this happens. Santa needs all kind of help. On this night he had workshop elves on standby and they got to rebuild a fence in Nebraska. |
| Elf Ernest | Wow. I had no idea. |
| Crash Murphy | Yes, there are support sleighs of all kinds. Stocking repair, candy cane placement, tree watering, Christmas light maintenance – Santa calls on all kinds of elves to do duty anywhere in the world that he sees it. This is why flight command is tracking THOUSANDS of sleighs each Christmas Eve, not just Santa |
| Crash Murphy | And yes, Elf Ulan, you are correct. That is partly the job of the North Pole Navy too. |
| Crash Murphy | One of my favorite support teams is the sled dog team |
| Elf Ernest | Sled dog team? What do they do? |
| Crash Murphy | They fetch things. |
| Elf Ernest | LOL, of course! |
| Elf Ulan | Lol |
| Crash Murphy | Santa and Mrs. Claus are always looking for ways for elves to become useful on Christmas Eve. We all pitch in. |
| Elf Ernest | That’s brilliant. I think we should tell more of these stories in the news, Crash. |
| Crash Murphy | That would be a good idea, Ernest. |
| Elf Ulan | Agreed! |
| Elf Ernest | Well, our time is up. Thanks, Elf Crash, for your insights today. I always learn a lot from you |
| Crash Murphy | Thanks for having me. And it was good to chat a little with you again, Elf Ulan! |
| Crash Murphy | Have a great day! |
| Elf Ernest | Thanks, Crash. You too. And you as well, Elf Ulan. |
| Elf Ulan | Thank you Elf Crash and Elf Ernest today |
| Elf Ernest | Bye everyone! |
| Elf Ulan | Good bye! |
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Thank you, Elf Ernest! It was so much fun and interesting that the time flew by! So I missed asking if the tuna were okay, and the test sleighs have flight recorders, lol! I also wanted to tell Elf Crash I’m delighted to see and talk to him again, but… The new test flights are flying over Finland now. I hope they are going well. I look forward to seeing and talking to more people in the next chat too. Thank you, and let’s enjoy tracking Santa! XD