Solar Impulse tastes India's legendary bureaucracy, delays historic flight
March 18, 2015  12:56
image
The Solar Impulse 2, which is out to make history by being the first plane to circumnavigate the earth solely on solar power, got a taste of India's legendary bureaucracy today.

It's departure from Ahmedabad to Varanasi was delayed by several hours Wednesday morning. Solar Impulse's Twitter handle tweeted the frustration of the pilots as they awaited customs clearance.

This is what @solarimpulse tweeted: #Flight3 is delayed due to custom issues! #Si2 is still on the ground, @andreborschberg is waiting.

@solarimpulse BREAKING: #Si2 could not takeoff due to custom issues in #India. #RTW is a real human adventure! Stay tuned.

The flight to Varanasi was delayed by around seven hours as the Solar Impulse team experienced delays dealing with custom officials. The flight finally took off at 7 am.

Capable of flying over oceans for several days and nights in a row, Si2 will travel 35,000 km around the world in 25 days over the course of roughly five months. It will pass over the Arabian Sea, India, Myanmar, China and the Pacific Ocean.
« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES