Historic flight over Statue of Liberty: Sun-powered aircraft sets off for NYC

The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft set off late Friday from Pennsylvania, aiming for New York and a fly-over of the Statue of Liberty in the latest leg of its bid to circle the globe using only solar power.

The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft set off late Friday from Pennsylvania, aiming for New York and a fly-over of the Statue of Liberty in the latest leg of its bid to circle the globe using only solar power.

Swiss founders and pilots, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg hope to demonstrate how pioneering spirit, innovation and clean technologies can change the world

Andre Borschberg took off from Lehigh Valley to New York, the 14th leg of Round the World Journey and marks the final US leg.

The flight, conceived to fly around the Statue of Liberty and in front of the skyline of Manhattan, is part of the attempt to achieve the first ever Round-The-World Solar Flight.

The aircraft, with Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg at the controls, took off from Lehigh Valley Airport shortly before midnight, a live video feed showed. The flight to New York’s Kennedy Airport was expected to take three hours.