Solar plane lands safely in Spain

  • 23/06/2016
(Reuters)
(Reuters)

An aeroplane powered solely by the sun has landed safely in Seville in Spain after an almost three-day flight across the Atlantic from New York.

It is one of the longest legs of the first ever fuel-less flight around the world.

The single-seat Solar Impulse 2 touched down shortly after 7:30am on Thursday (local time) in Seville after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 2:30am on June 20.

The flight of just over 71 hours was the 15th leg of the round-the-world journey by the plane piloted in turns by Swiss aviators Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg.

"Oh-la-la, absolutely perfect," Piccard said after landing, thanking his engineering crew for their efforts.

With a cruising speed of around 70 kilometres an hour, similar to an average car, the plane has more than 17,0000 solar cells built into wings with a span bigger than that of a Boeing 747.

Reuters