Solar plane, parked in Japan, suffers further setback as wind clips its wing

A solar-powered plane forced to land in Japan will be stuck on the ground for at least a week after wind gusts damaged its wing.

Solar Impulse 2 had been headed from China to Hawaii when its team decided to divert to Nagoya, Japan, because of bad weather ahead.

After landing late on Monday a cover was put over the wing to protect it from the rain and the sun.

“There was so much wind and gusts that this cover started to shake on the wing, and damaged an aileron on the trailing edge of the wing,” said Bertrand Piccard, the head of the project.

It would take at least one week to repair the wing, he said. The plane has since been covered with an inflatable hanger to protect it.

The Solar Impulse departed Nanjing, China, on Sunday on what was expected to be the longest leg of the journey: a six-day, 5,079-mile (8,175km) flight to Hawaii.

Instead the plane landed in Nagoya in central Japan to wait out the unexpected bad weather.

Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg is attempting to flying Solar Impulse around the world without any fuel – just the sun’s rays – to propel him.