Americas
The Solar Impulse 2 solar-powered airplane flies off Kapolei, Hawaii, on March 3, 2016 on an all-day test flight. (AFP/Eugene Tanner)
The experimental plane Solar Impulse 2, which completed a historic round-the-world trip in 2016 without using jet fuel, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico recently, its owner revealed.Flown by Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse 2 circumnavigated the globe in 17 stages, covering a remarkable 43,000 kilometers across four continents, two oceans and three seas, in 23 days of flying without using a drop of fuel.
Three years after the globe-trotting flight, the solar-powered vessel was sold to Skydweller Aero, which converted the aircraft into a drone to carry out "controlled ditching," the company said in a press release issued Tuesday.
Skydweller Aero said Solar Impulse 2 took off from Stennis, Mississippi on April 26 but crashed into the Gulf of Mexico on May 4.
