Sullenberger Aviation Museum Honors Renowned Pilot

The former Carolinas Aviation Museum has a new location, new name and by the end of this year a new campus. It was officially renamed earlier this month the Sullenberger Aviation Museum after Capt. C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger. 

On Jan. 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 was headed to Charlotte when it struck a flock of geese and lost engine power over New York City. Sullenberger safely landed the plane in the Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived. The aircraft became known as the “Miracle on the Hudson” and was a popular exhibit at the museum before its doors closed in 2019. The plane’s new home will be the Sullenberger Aviation Museum.

The three-building campus will include a welcome center, main exhibit hall and a preserved historic hangar complemented by an outdoor plaza with additional historic aircraft and views of CLT’s airfield. 

Visitors will relish more than 45 historic aircraft, flight simulators, immersive multimedia, interactive exhibits and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education programs.

The Airport has committed $5 million from its Cannon Fund, which was willed to CLT to help promote aviation. Charlotte Douglas will manage the project’s site development and has identified 10-acres on the northeast corner of the Airport for redevelopment of museum facilities.

The museum opened at CLT in 1991. Over the years, it has leased multiple facilities, including hangars, cargo buildings and an open airfield ramp. 
Construction of the new $31 million facility began in late September 2022. A grand opening is planned at the end of this year. It will welcome yearly more than 120,000 visitors and connect more than 15,000 area students to STEM programming and career development labs.