Carolinas Aviation Museum renamed after pilot ‘Sully’ Sullenberger
CHARLOTTE, NC (WWAY) — The former Carolinas Aviation Museum has officially announced its new moniker: the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, honoring Capt. C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger, who, along with his crew, famously landed US Airways Flight 1549 safely in New York City’s Hudson River.
The aviation hero and flight safety advocate was on hand Thursday morning for the announcement at Renaissance West STEAM Academy in west Charlotte, where museum leaders and other officials also provided updates on the capital campaign and construction progress for the museum’s new facility adjacent to Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
The museum has housed the famous Flight 1549 plane – which was en route to Charlotte on January 15, 2009, after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport – and a corresponding exhibit since 2011. Dozens of passengers aboard the flight were Charlotteans and many still call this region home.
Ric Elias, a Flight 1549 survivor and CEO of Red Ventures, a diverse portfolio of influential brands, businesses and digital platforms, personally donated $1 million alongside $500,000 from Red Ventures’ Lonely Planet to the museum’s Lift Off Capital Campaign as a way to honor Capt. Sullenberger.
“Flight 1549 changed the course of my life and gave me the ultimate gift of a second chance,” said Elias. “The Museum is a tribute to the courage of Capt. Sullenberger and the entire flight crew, and my hope is that it will also inspire young innovators to change the world.”
The renaming signifies not just a new brand, but an inspiring new vision for the 31-year-old museum. While its new facility will continue to exhibit historical aircraft, it will also serve as an elevated educational resource and innovation center to help shape the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workforce development pipeline throughout the region.
Projected to open by the end of 2023, the 105,000-square-foot Sullenberger Aviation Museum multi-building campus will offer immersive learning experiences like flight simulators, interactive exhibits, STEM education programs and authentic RFID storytelling of the Carolinas’ past, present and future in aviation.
