Solar plane completes risky flight
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — A solar-powered airplane on a mission to fly around the world landed in California, completing a risky, three-day flight across the Pacific Ocean.
Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the Solar Impulse 2 in Mountain View, in the Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, at 11:45 p.m. Saturday following a 62-hour, nonstop solo flight without fuel.
“You know there was a moment in the night, I was watching the reflection of the moon on the ocean and I was thinking ‘I’m completely alone in this tiny cockpit and I feel completely confident.’ And I was really thankful to life for bringing me this experience,” Piccard said after he landed. “It’s maybe this is one of the most fantastic experiences of life I’ve had.”
The landing came hours after Piccard made a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Piccard and fellow Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg have been taking turns flying the plane on an around-the-world trip since taking off from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in March 2015. It made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China, Japan and Hawaii.
The trans-Pacific leg was the riskiest part of the plane’s travels because of the lack of emergency landing sites.
The plane’s wings are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night.
Solar Impulse 2 will make three more stops in the United States before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
