We all remember the Miracle of The Hudson last year (and if you don’t, the basic summary – A US Airways A320 ingests birds into the engine in January 2009, ditches into the Hudson River, all passengers and crew survive – in fact I was flying through LaGuardia the day after the incident)
There’s been a lot of queries what is going to happen to the A320 that was involved. Well it’s fate can finally be revealed. And it isn’t going for scrap is the good news.
N106US will make its way in May to a new home, at the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina using six trucks to get everything there
This will be a “salute to safety” inspired by Japan Airlines’ Safety Promotion Centre near Haneda airport.
The insurer tried to sell the body via auction and (thankfully) failed in the bid. At that point the museum contacted Doug Parker (CEO of US Airways) and the Chartis (the auction house) to obtain the frame.
Of course, with an item like that, other museums wanted it too. Being in Charlotte seems to help, as it’s a US Airways Hub, and thus the bird is off to a new home there.
Terms of the donation have not been disclosed, but everyone has seemed to benefit from doing this.
A new exhibit will be constructed to house N106US, with everything recovered from the bird – from trolleys, service carts, markings, the works The only thing that the museum hasn’t got is engines – which it is trying to obtain.
The aim of the exhibit will be to focus on the systems of aviation – rather than the incident itself, with support from Airbus, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and US Airways too.
My comments are simple. It’s great to see this aircraft not go for scrap, and it’s a great thing it’s going to a museum where those actions on the Hudson can be remembered. A mileage run to see this bird would not be out of the way in 2012 I think…..
