65°F
weather icon Clear
Las Vegas, NV
Nation and World

Solar powered plane lands in New York City after tear found in wing

Andre Borschberg, one of two pilots of the Solar Impulse plane is interviewed by a reporter on a ladder as he sits inside the cockpit of the solar powered plane in this June 17 photo taken at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va.
More Stories
FILE - Vehicles wait outside the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport ...
British political commentator detained by feds at California airport
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with Israeli Brigadier General Yaakov Dolf as he visit ...
Rubio tours US-led center in Israel overseeing ceasefire in Gaza
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, arrive for a news c ...
Netanyahu enters campaign mode, claiming he saved Israel
Palestinians watch machinery and some workers from Egypt searching for the bodies of hostages a ...
Egypt deploys equipment to comb rubble for Israeli bodies
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 6, 2013 - 7:35 pm
 

WASHINGTON — A solar-powered aircraft has completed a history-making cross-country flight, landing at New York’s JFK airport.

The Solar Impulse flew out of Dulles International Airport in Washington a little before 5 a.m. Saturday en route to New York City and landed shortly after 11 p.m. EDT

An unexpected tear was found on the left wing of the revolutionary plane earlier Saturday, forcing the aircraft to land three hours ahead of schedule. Officials said neither the pilot nor aircraft appeared to be in danger.

The accelerated schedule forced flight officials to scrap a planned fly-by past the Statue of Liberty and head straight to JFK.

The aircraft, powered by some 11,000 solar cells, soars to 30,000 feet while poking along at a top speed of 45 mph. The Solar Impulse left San Francisco in early May and has made stopovers in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Dulles.The cross-country flight is a tuneup for a planned 2015 flight around the globe with an up-graded version of the plane.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
The U.S. Agriculture Department announced that as of Nov. 1, it would no longer send out aid un ...
Ongoing shutdown sparks flight delay warnings, food stamp pause
By Kate Sullivan and María Paula Mijares Torres Bloomberg News

The U.S. Agriculture Department announced that as of Nov. 1, it would no longer send out aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to low-income Americans.

MORE STORIES