Aviation museum to open Saturday; honors 'Miracle on the Hudson' flight
'North Carolina is first in flight, and we intend to play our part'
The following article appeared in the May 31, 2024, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
New aviation museum honoring ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ flight opens Saturday; ‘We don’t just want to be another bauble’
The Sullenberger Aviation Museum opens Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Sullenberger Aviation Museum)
Charlotte doesn’t come together for major projects as visibly as it once did. But on Saturday the city will add a new museum that’s the result of a “collective purpose.”
The Sullenberger Aviation Museum, which formally opens on Saturday on the east side of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, raised $34M for a project that commemorates a historic accident that occurred 15 years ago and involved a flight that was scheduled to operate from New York LaGuardia to Charlotte.
US Airways Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia on Jan. 15, 2009. About two minutes after takeoff, it flew into a flock of Canadian geese and lost both engines. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger managed to land on the Hudson River. The 155 passengers and crew members all survived. Sullenberger became a national hero.
The museum not only honors Sullenberger but also seeks to inspire young people to pursue careers in aviation. “What makes a project like this work is the collective purpose,” museum president Stephen Saucier told reporters Wednesday. “We don’t just want to be another bauble in Charlotte. We want to be impactful. North Carolina is first in flight, and we intend to play our part.”
The $34M raised to build the museum came from contributions and area governments. Top contributors: