While on our annual tour with a B-25 WWII bomber to South Carolina this year, we had a rare day off due to weather. So, we and some fellow volunteers loaded into our rental vehicle and headed across the border to Charlotte, North Carolina, to explore the Sullenberger Aviation Museum.

Originally known as the Carolinas Aviation Museum, the gallery was renamed in 2023 in honor of Captain Chesely Sullenberger. He’s the US Airways pilot who successfully landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson River in New York after a bird strike, saving all 155 people on board.

The very plane that landed on the Hudson is now the main attraction at the museum. If the incident happened in New York, why is the plane in North Carolina? I had the same question. The answer is because it was en route from LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte when the incident happened, and many of the passengers and crew were from the Charlotte area.

Up close with the plane that landed on the Hudson

We paid a little extra for the two-hour Miracle on the Hudson Experience. That gave us and the rest of our group of about 15 a dedicated tour guide who took us through the commercial airline flight that resulted in a water landing. Within four minutes of takeoff, the plane was on the water and people were deboarding.

The airplane definitely looked beat up, with dents and breaks all around. But, as we learned, most of the “impressive-looking” marks were made during the recovery process and not a result of the bird strike. Actual bird strikes were outlined in yellow from the ensuing investigation. Two birds hit each of the two engines, rendering the plane unflyable.

We also learned the stories of many of the passengers. In fact, each person in our group was assigned one of the passengers from the flight and given a card that detailed who the person was, where they were sitting, how they escaped, and any injuries they sustained. That helped put us in their shoes and gave us a more realistic view of what they felt, creating a sobering experience.

We also got to touch some of the artifacts (with gloves on) that were on the plane when it went down, making the situation that much more real. These included cockpit manuals, seat cushions, engine cowling, and other items.

Beyond the Airbus A320

Although the plane that landed on the Hudson is the centerpiece of the museum, plenty of other aircraft are featured and worth looking at. We investigated a CH-46D Sea Knight helicopter, a Douglas A-4A Seahawk, a Boeing/Stearman PT-17 Kaydet, a Piedmont DC-3, a Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat, a Lockheed EC-130E Hercules, and a Vought A-7 Corsair, among others.

Since North Carolina is where Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first airplane (even though they were from Dayton, Ohio), it’s only fitting that the museum also houses a replica of the Wright Flyer. Inspired by the ingenuity of flight, the Sullenberger Aviation Museum tells the history of aviation in the hopes of inspiring future generations.

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