CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Armed with cameras, thousands of people watched as the fuselage of US Airways flight #1549 hulked its way down Charlotte-area highways Friday.
The 120-foot fuselage was loaded onto a trailer in New York Tuesday.
Thursday night, the crew stayed at a rest stop on I-77 near the North Carolina - Virginia state line before they finally began the last portion of the journey towards Charlotte Friday morning.
One of the biggest crowds gathered at exit 28 on I-77 near Cornelius.
Cars lined up on streets that parallel the interstate, and people stood outside watching with anticipation.
It s very meaningful. I think of those poor people who must've thought that would be their last day on earth, said spectator Joan Garn.
Choppers hovered above the interstate to get aerial views of the crowds and the motorcade.
Cars headed northbound stopped in traffic to watch the historic plane passed by.
Many of the people who lined the interstate to watch, skipped work and shared the moment with family members.
My son didn't go to school today because of it, admitted Robin Blanchietti.
Impromptu groups gathered along the route: south on I-77, west on I-85, and finally south on Billy Graham Parkway.
As the motorcade turned onto Billy Graham Parkway, crowds lined the bridge over I-77.
With only a few miles to go, it marked the end of the voyage for the fuselage, before it arrived at its home at the Carolinas Aviation Museum on Yorkmont Road.
That was awesome man. I loved it. It was great man. Something big like that going down the road - you don't see that that often, exclaimed Scott Hanson.
The plane took off from New York s LaGuardia airport January 15, 2009 with 155 passengers on board, heading towards Charlotte, N.C but never made it as a pack of geese took out both engines.
Captain Chesley Sully Sullenberger decided to make an emergency landing in the frigid waters of the Hudson Bay in New York.
All 155 passengers survived.
