Steven & Alexandra Cohen Patients' 'Flight' to North Pole

What's one of the best ways to see Santa Claus before Christmas? It involves traveling to the North Pole, which is what 50 Hematology/Oncology patients and their families did.

This fantasy "flight" has happened for the past 10 years and is the work of the Social Work and Child Life departments of . Patients and their families are taken by bus to the airport where they go through a light security screening and board a plane that lands at the "North Pole."

So how does someone to get to the North Pole? Well, it seems that only the pilots know and the captain of this year's flight, Don Iorio, wouldn't say. Passengers had to pull down the shades of their windows because the "reindeer are sensitive to light."

But regardless of how exactly you fly to the North Pole, at least from the passengers' perspective it involved being on a U.S. Air plane for about a half hour, which was filled with Christmas music, both played and sung by the passengers, and a reading of The Night Before Christmas.

The once-a-year flight to the North Pole took off Saturday from LaGuardia Airport at about 11 a.m. Flight 1225 landed at the North Pole around noon, when the passengers unloaded and were met at the gate by Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.

While at the North Pole, passengers could take part in games, make t-shirts, eat and talk to Santa, Mrs. Claus and Ronald McDonald, who was also waiting for the passengers at the North Pole.

Danielle Davis, a child life specialist at the hospital who co-organized the event, said that the best part of this experience is seeing the children's faces when they land in the North Pole.

"They go through so much in the hospital, but at the end of the day, they're kids," she said. This was her first year taking part in this event.