Solar Impulse 2: Sun-powered plane finishes transatlantic trip as it nears end of record-breaking journey

A plane that is powered by the sun has finished its flight across the Atlantic and is well on its way into the record books.

Solar Impulse 2 has finished its three-day flight across the Atlantic, one of the longest legs of its journey. The trip is being taken by pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, who along with their team hope to use it as a way of demonstrating the importance of renewable energy.

The flight – the 15th leg of the trip, which sees the two pilots take turns – took about 71 hours. It ended in Seville in Spain.

"Oh-la-la, absolutely perfect," Mr Piccard said after landing, and thanked his engineering crew for their efforts.

The journey began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi. It will return to the United Arab Emirates so that the team can complete the first round-the-world flight without the aid of traditional fuel.

The plane flies at around 40 miles an hour, about the cruising speed of a family car – and has a cockpit roughly the same size. The two pilots have used techniques including hypnotherapy to keep themselves awake and alert inside that small cabin, since the journey requires them to be switched on throughout the long legs.

The plane itself is huge, with a wing span bigger than that of a Boeing 747 – much of which is covered in the 17,000 solar panels that gather energy to power the plane.