Solar plane lands in Japan to wait out bad weather

(MENAFN- Arab News) TOKYO: A solar-powered plane attempting to circle the globe without a drop of fuel made an unscheduled landing late Monday in Japan to wait out bad weather.
Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg took off from Nanjing China on Sunday on what was to be the longest leg of the journey a six-day 5079-mile flight to Hawaii. Instead the Solar Impulse 2 made an unscheduled visit in central Japan and landed safely at the Nagoya Airport.
Japanese Transport Ministry and Nagoya airport officials said earlier that they were arranging for the landing to occur after the airport's usual closing hours to accommodate the plane with a wide wingspan.
Live Internet feed on the organizers' website showed crewmembers in the control room applauding and cheering at the landing.
Elke Neumann a spokeswoman for the Solar Impulse project said from Nanjing that the team had noticed the weather more than a day ago.
'We thought we might go through it' she said. 'But between Japan and Hawaii there's no place to stop.'
The safety of the pilot and the plane are a priority and they will likely wait a few days in Japan until the weather changes she said.
Solar Impulse 2 needs room to land so it generally avoids times when commercial flights are operating Neuman said. The plane also usually lands at night because the winds tend to be lower. It needs wind to be no more than 10 knots she said.
'We are a little bit sad because everything's functioning perfectly: The batteries are charging there's enough sun the pilot is in good health he's in good condition it's all working well' Neumann said.
The journey started in March in Abu Dhabi and the plane has stopped in Oman India Myanmar and China. The flight from Nanjing to Hawaii is the seventh of 12 flights and the riskiest.