The Latest: Solar plane lands in suburban Phoenix

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Latest on the flight of a solar-powered airplane from California to Arizona in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe (all times local):

9:00 p.m.

A solar-powered plane has landed in suburban Phoenix after a flight from California on the latest leg of its round-the-world journey.

Solar Impulse 2 arrived in the suburb of Goodyear, which is just to the southwest of Phoenix, shortly before 9 p.m. PDT Monday.

The aircraft took off from Mountain View in northern California shortly after 5 a.m. Monday on the 16-hour flight to Phoenix.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg flew the plane, which began its globe-circling journey last year. Solar Impulse 2 flew from Hawaii to the Silicon Valley last week.

The wings of the plane are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries.

After Phoenix, the plane will make two more stops in the United States before crossing the Atlantic.

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1:30 p.m.

A solar-powered plane is crossing the Mojave Desert on its way from California to Arizona on the latest leg of its round-the-world journey.

Solar Impulse 2 took off from Mountain View (in northern California) shortly after 5 a.m. Monday for an expected 16-hour flight to Phoenix. By midday it was crossing desert northwest of Los Angeles at an altitude of around 23,000 feet.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg is flying the plane, which began its globe-circling journey last year. Solar Impulse 2 flew from Hawaii to the Silicon Valley last week.

The wings of the plane are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries.

After Phoenix, the plane will make two more stops in the United States before crossing the Atlantic.

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3 a.m.

A solar-powered airplane is preparing to leave California for Arizona to continue its journey around the world.

The Swiss-made Solar Impulse 2 will take off from Mountain View before dawn Monday for what should be a 16-hour flight to Phoenix.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg will be at the helm of the plane that began circumnavigation the globe last year using only energy from the sun.

Borschberg’s co-pilot, Bertrand Piccard, also of Switzerland, made the three-day trip from Hawaii to the heart of Silicon Valley, where he landed last week.

The crew was forced to stay in Oahu for nine months after the plane’s battery system sustained heat damage on its trip from Japan.

The aircraft began its voyage in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and made stops in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan.