Pilot lands solar-powered plane after risky flight across Pacific Ocean

Two pilots landed a sun-powered airplane in California Saturday night, finishing the Pacific leg of their attempt to navigate  around-the-world in an aircraft without using any fuel.

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and fellow pilot Andre Borschberg resumed their journey Thursday for the  latest leg of their low-speed journey on Solar Impulse 2, nine months after they were grounded because of a fried battery and lack of sunlight during the winter.

They made it to California in less than three days, on schedule, despite having nearly run out of fuel, according to a tweet from the pair.

"It's a new era. It's not science fiction. It's today," Piccard told CNN after landing. "It exists and clean technologies can do the impossible."

Solar Impulse is scheduled to continue on to one or two locations in the Midwest and later land in New York City in early June, where they will prepare for two final flights over the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea before attempting to complete their mission of navigating around the world and landing Solar Impulse back in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Sun-powered Solar Impulse resumes its round-the-world flight

The team began its journey last year in Abu Dhabi. Borschberg flew 13 hours and landed in Muscat, Oman. They continued their trip across Asia before Borschberg completed the longest nonstop solo flight in the world in four days, 21 hours and 52 minutes when they traveled from Japan to Hawaii.

But in breaking the flight record, they damaged the plane's battery. The pilots suspended their trip — and their original goal to complete the journey within a year — to repair the plane and avoid flying in the winter, which brought less sunlight.

This leg across the Pacific was their riskiest yet, because of the lack of emergency landing sites.The pilots had to avoid clouds during their flights because the plane needs clear skies to recharge its batteries. Avoiding turbulence and strong winds was also key for the keeping the crew safe in the lightweight aircraft.

Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, one of the project's sponsors, was among the crowd that came out for Piccard and Borschberg's late-night landing in Northern California.

"It was a beautiful landing," Brin told the pilots soon after they landed at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View.

The pilots were in the air 62 hours from the time they left Hawaii for the latest leg, but Piccard joked with flight controllers that he was up for continuing his journey.

"I could continue all the way to New York!" Piccard said.

Despite the obstacles the Solar Impulse 2 team has already faced, Piccard said he remained confident.

"You know there was a moment in the night, I was watching the reflection of the moon on the ocean and I was thinking, 'I'm completely alone in this tiny cockpit and I feel completely confident,'" Piccard told reporters after the landing.

Contributing: Aamer Madhani