Before departing the North Pole…
… Santa decided to make sure that his equipment was working.
He hitched up the reindeer and ran pre-flight tests on the sleigh.
Everything was just fine.
As he swung up into the seat, he sees a man wearing a trench-coat and carrying a shotgun walking towards him.
The man smiles and says, “Hi! I’m with the FAA! We were reviewing our records down at the office and realized that you’re due a pilot license validation flight. So here I am.”
He swings up into the seat by Santa and settles in.
Santa, ever the agreeable type says, “Fine. Enjoy your ride. But… why the shotgun?”
The man looks around and conspiratorially lowers his voice,
“Well, I wasn’t supposed to say anything, since it’s part of the test,…”
“But you’re going to lose an engine on take-off.”