Business & Tech

Dulles Serves as Pit Stop in Historic Journey of Solar-Powered Plane

If you were up early Saturday morning, say around 4:46 a.m., you may have caught a glimpse of a special plane making a historic trip.

The Solar Impulse plane took off from Dulles International Airport Saturday morning on the last leg of its historic journey as the first solar-powered plane to fly cross country.

On its way to JFK Airport in New York, the plane experienced a technical difficulty and landed earlier than expected, just after 11 p.m. instead of 2 a.m. Solar Impulse tweeted a photo after the pilots landed.

According to its Web site: Solar Impulse, officially known as the HB-SIA prototype, will now retire. Ten years since its conception, the solar airplane achieved what organizers say is more than it could have hoped for: a world record 26-hour flight in 2010, European flights to Brussels and Paris in 2011, the world’s first solar-powered intercontinental flight in 2012 connecting Switzerland to Morocco and now, the crossing of the land of aviation pioneers from San Francisco to New York City.


Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Chantilly