Solar Impulse 2 lands in New York ahead of attempt to cross Atlantic

The solar-powered plane is to take on a trip that could last up to four days

"Solar Impulse 2", a solar-powered plane piloted by Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland, flies over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, before landing on Moffett Airfield following a 62-hour flight from Hawaii

Solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 has flown over New York, circling the Statue of Liberty before landing at JFK Airport.

The Solar Impulse is on a mission to become the first plane to circumnavigate the globe without using fuel, and its New York stop completed the US leg of the journey.

The aircraft is now set to take on a flight over the Atlantic, which is expected to take between three and four days.

Its departure from the US will be weather dependent, with its light weight of just 2.3 tonnes meaning conditions for the crossing need to be calm, with little wind.

Solar Impulse pilot, Andre Borschberg, told the BBC: “The US is a country where you meet a lot of entrepreneurs and pioneers, and so to end our American crossing at the Statue of Liberty - which represents for me the freedom of enterprise and the freedom to innovate that is the spirit you can find in this country - is so symbolic.“

The attempt is in its second year, the plane having departed from its starting point in Abu Dhabi on 9 July 2015, completing eight legs of the journey and reaching Honolulu before suffering battery damage from overheating, and remaining in Hawaii until 21 April.

The Hawaii to San Francisco leg of the journey took more than 62 hours, with the craft reaching California on 24 April to begin its trans-American journey.

Although the plane is not the first ever solar-powered plane, it is the first one that has crossed oceans and the team behind the plane aims to show it is possible to reduce energy consumption.