US Airways Flight 1549, which started out for Charlotte, N.C., on the afternoon of Jan. 15, 2009, should reach its destination in about a week. The fuselage of the Airbus A320-214 that was operated as Flight 1549 that day started the road journey on the back of a flatbed truck to the Carolinas Aviation Museum on Saturday. The aircraft, which was successfully ditched in the Hudson River after multiple bird strikes by pilots Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and FO Jeff Skiles, has been in a New Jersey warehouse since then and was almost auctioned for scrap before the museum launched a campaign to preserve the hull. Sullenberger, who has since retired from the airline and is rumored to be working on a movie about the ditching, will speak at a dedication ceremony for the wreck, which will continue to be a wreck.
The museum plans to re-create the atmosphere of the aircraft in the moments after the ditching, so the hull breaches and other damage are being preserved. The tail and wings were shipped separately and have already arrived in Charlotte. The trucking company hauling the fuselage says it could take three days to get out of New Jersey as it threads through the state’s back roads to avoid causing monumental traffic delays on congested roads. After it gets out of New Jersey, the roads open up some and the trip should go faster. The museum says it will take about four months to reassemble the aircraft and build the display.
