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Solar-powered plane ends 5-day journey over the Pacific

HONOLULU — An airplane powered by the sun was to land in Hawaii after a five-day journey over the Pacific Ocean.

The flight from Japan is the longest leg of the around-the-world voyage planned by two Swiss pilots who have been taking turns flying the single-seat airplane. It is also the riskiest because the plane has nowhere to land in an emergency.

The aircraft was scheduled to land at a small airport outside Honolulu about 6 a.m. today. Flight officials said the aircraft was to arrive in the Hawaii area earlier but would fly in a holding pattern until the set landing time.

The flight was made to create awareness about replacing fossil fuels with clean technologies.

Solar Impulse 2 took off from Abu Dhabi in March. The wings of the carbon fiber aircraft have more than 17,000 solar cells.

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