Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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June 8, 2011

Aviation history sets course for southern W.Va., Bluefield today

GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Barring any equipment malfunctions or other unexpected delays, a piece of aviation history will roll through southern West Virginia today and stop for the night near Bluefield.

US Airways Flight 1549 left LaGuardia International Airport in January 2009 for a flight to Charlotte, NC, but the aircraft was struck by some geese and forced to land in the Hudson River. All of the passengers and crew were able to evacuate the plane and survived.

The airliner is bound for North Carolina again, but this time it is taking a land route. It is being trucked from New Jersey and down Interstate 77 to a new home at the Carolinas Aviation Museum.

Flight 1549 is going to Charlotte “because that’s where it was going” when it last flew,” said Shawn Dorsch, president of the Carolinas Aviation Museum.

Dorsch told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph on Tuesday evening when the plane’s convoy was stopping for the night at Fairmont in northern West Virginia that current plans called for parking again for the night by getting off the West Virginia Turnpike near Bluefield.

People will be able to see the aircraft during its stop in Mercer county, he said.

“You can’t miss it,” he added.

The plane’s convoy is scheduled to resume its southward journey at 8 a.m. today, then arrive for a stop in Charleston between 10 and 11 a.m. for a rest and opportunities for photographs, said Tyrone Gore, director of operations for the West Virginia Turnpike Authority.

“When it arrives in Mercer County is contingent on how long it stays in Charleston,” he said.

The aircraft is being hauled only during the daylight hours. West Virginia does not allow any night travel for oversized loads unless there is a special permit, and the convoy does not have one, Gore said. Unless there is an equipment malfunction or some other delay, the airliner is expected to travel the entire length of the turnpike today.

Residents can follow the truck’s progress with a map located on the website of J. Supor & Son Trucking & Rigging Company, a New Jersey business handling the transport. The map is at http://www.jsupor.com/ on the site’s home page.

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