SHANGHAI: Solar Impulse 2 landed early Tuesday in China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, completing the fifth leg of its landmark global circumnavigation powered solely by the sun.

With pilot Bertrand Piccard at the controls, the revolutionary plane landed in Chongqing airport at 1:35 am after a 20-and-a-half hour flight from Myanmar, its vast wingspan lit up by rows of lights.

The plane had been expected to make just a brief stop in the southwestern city and quickly travel on to Nanjing, about 270 kilometres (170 miles) from Shanghai, but that was delayed due to weather and safety concerns, with the team now expecting to stay a few days waiting for better conditions for the trip east. “We are tired but we are still very, very happy to be in Chongqing,” said mission engineer Michael Anger on the project’s website.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play