Solar-powered plane successfully completes first sea leg

A solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, has landed in India, completing the first major sea leg of its epic round-the-world flight.

The aircraft landed at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, located nine kilometers (about six miles) north of central Ahmedabad, in India’s western state of Gujarat at 11:25 p.m. local time (1755 GMT) on Tuesday.

“Congratulations to @bertrandpiccard from Mission Control… Landing 11.25 p.m. local time,” the Solar Impulse team said in a twitter message.

This was the aircraft’s second stop, after covering a distance of 1,465 kilometers (910 mile) over the Arabian Sea from Oman in just over 15 hours.

Solar Impulse embarked on its journey from the United Arab Emirates’ capital of Abu Dhabi on Monday and made a stopover at the Muscat International Airport in Oman on Tuesday morning.

The epic round-the-world journey without a drop of fuel seeks to promote green energy.

According to the Swiss embassy, the plane will stay in Ahmedabad for four days during which “several events are planned on the theme of renewable energy and sustainable development.”

“Solar Impulse was not built to carry passengers but to carry messages,” Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard said in a press release.

“The world needs o implement new ways of improving the quality of life. Clean technologies and renewable forms of energy are part of the solution, as they can simultaneously protect the environment and create jobs and profits for the industry.”

The aircraft is scheduled to set on its fourth leg to Myanmar on March 16 after a short pause at the Indian city of Varanasi on the night of March 15.

Challenge ahead

Swiss pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard are running the project after 13 years of research and feasibility testing.

The sea legs pose the greatest challenge for the Solar Impulse team in case of any loss of power over the water, which would leave the pilot no alternative but to jump out with a parachute, and await rescue by boat.

The longest single leg of the journey lies ahead as one of the aviators, who alternate at the controls of the single-seat aircraft, will fly solo non-stop for five days and nights over a distance of 8,500 kilometers (5,270 miles) across the Pacific from the Chinese city of Nanjing to Hawaii.

Muscat was the first of 12 planned stops on the plane’s journey around the world from Abu Dhabi, with a total flight time of around 25 days spreading over five months.