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Santa to fly over Hampton Roads Saturday in MH-60 helicopter

Santa will make 13 stops throughout the region
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Posted at 5:50 PM, Dec 10, 2021
and last updated 2021-12-12 16:43:09-05

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - Santa will be flying over much of Hampton Roads Saturday, as part of a training flight with the "Fleet Angels" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 2.

Santa and his elf, Doc Lynch, will take off on Saturday, December 11, at 10 a.m., heading to their first stop in Hampton at 10:05 a.m. This will be the second time HSC-2 performs a flight with Santa.

“Our annual Santa Flight is a great way to maximize flight training hours while bringing the local community together during the holidays,” said Capt. Steven Thomas, HSC-2’s commanding officer. “We are happy to have Santa on board to spread holiday joy throughout Hampton Roads as we continue to train pilots and aircrewmen.”

The flight path will cover:

  • Hampton – Riverpointe Shopping Center – 10:05 a.m.
  • Newport News – Patrick Henry Mall – 10:15 a.m.
  • Suffolk – Walmart Supercenter – 10:35 a.m.
  • Larchmont – Larchmont Elementary School – 10:50 a.m.
  • Norfolk – Town Point Park (Waterside) – 10:55 a.m.
  • Portsmouth – Columbia Park – 11:00 a.m.
  • Chesapeake – Greenbrier Mall – 11:15 a.m.
  • Towncenter – Mount Trashmore – 11:25 a.m.
  • Great Neck – Cox High School – 11:35 a.m.
  • Oceanfront – Beachline – 11:45 a.m.
  • Fort Story – 11:55 a.m.
  • CHIX Beach – Lesner Bridge – 12:00 p.m.
  • Chick's Beach  – 12:05 p.m.

Located onboard Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, the "Fleet Angels" operate the Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk helicoper. As a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), HSC-2 trains pilots and aircrewmen to employ the MH-60S worldwide in a variety of missions, including fleet logistics support, search and rescue, medical evacuation, special warfare support, anti-surface warfare and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.

The squadron fulfills secondary missions of theater security cooperation and U.S. 2nd Fleet operational support.