Hudson River splashdown aircraft lands in museum

The U.S. Airways jet that hit headlines for its miraculous emergency landing on Husdson River off New York City in 2009 will be a permanent exhibit at Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, which was the destination of the flight on the day of incidence.

The museum has almost finalized an agreement to buy the ruptured aircraft, Shawn Dorsch, Museum President, said in a statement on Wednesday. Dorsch says the museum hopes to have the plane on display by May 2011 as reassembling the aircraft would take a couple of months.

The Airbus A320 got stuck by a flock of geese soon after take-off from New York's LaGuardia airport on January 15, 2009, that blew out the engines of the aircraft. It was the skillful landing by pilot Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger on Hudson River that saved lives of all passengers and crew members onboard. The incident remained in international spotlight as such an occurrence has been very rare in the history of emergency landings.

The Carolinas Aviation Museum hopes to attract more visitors once the iconic aircraft is open to public.

This is without a doubt a major international aviation icon. People around the world are captivated by this story, Dorsch was quoted as saying.