Community Corner

'Miracle' Plane Stops in Perryville Before Heading Across Maryland

The plane made famous by its safe landing in the Hudson River is heading to a museum in North Carolina.

The US Airways plane that Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III landed in the Hudson River two years ago made its way south on Interstate 95 Monday en route to the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC.

On Monday night the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane stopped off at a weigh station in Perryville before it was scheduled to head off across Maryland. Onlookers all along its route Monday from Harrison, NJ, gathered on overpasses and along roadsides to watch the fuselage of the plane pass by without the wings that were so instrumental in its survival. (They were transported separately.)

On Jan. 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 took off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Shortly after takeoff, US Airways Flight 1549 hit a flock of geese, killing its engines. Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey B. Skiles were forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. Then they evacuated the plane and all 155 passengers onto the wings of the plane, where rescuers reached them in boats.

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Fred Brown, Carly Shatto and Susette Taylor waited along Maxa Road in Aberdeen in hopes that they would see the plane pass by. But it stopped for the night in Perryville at approximately 4 p.m.

"It is really historic that a man would save all of those people," said Taylor of Maxa Road. "We would love to see it pass here. That's why we're standing out here in the hot sun. It's not something that happens."

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Joe Slaughter, of Fallston, drove down to Perryville to see if it was accessible.

"I was astonished to hear they were transporting it and amazed to actually find it," Slaughter said. "I'm an aviation enthusiast and I like heavy equipment so this is the best of both worlds."

The plane was taken to the Perryville weigh station and driven to a secluded area away from public scrutiny. It is expected to head west on I-70.

To see the video of the dramatic landing go here.

To track the plane's progress, go here.

Got a photo of the fuselage passing through your town? Add it to our photos by clicking on "add photo" with this story.


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