Solar plane makes unexpected landing in Japan
The seventh leg of a solar-powered plane's attempted round-the-world flight has cut short due to bad weather, forcing it to land in Japan.
The Solar Impulse 2 flies over Nagoya Airport in Toyoyama, central Japan, shortly before its landing on Monday.
Takuya Inaba/Kyodo News via AP
Tokyo
A solar-powered plane attempting a round-the-world flight will cut short the seventh leg of its 35,000-km global (22,000-mile) journey, landing in Nagoya, western Japan, due to bad weather.
The plane will land at a small airport in Nagoya around midnight local time, one of the project's organizers told Reuters.
The Solar Impulse 2, a solar powered plane, left Nanjing, China on Sunday to fly over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. The plane, which is covered in solar cells, took off from Abu Dhabi in March.
The journey across the Pacific Ocean was expected to be the most difficult stretch of the journey.
Overall, the trip was expected to span approximately 25 flight days broken up into 12 legs at speeds between 50 and 100 kph (30 to 60 mph).
(Reporting by Olivier Fabre; Writing by Mari Saito)