By Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY
An historic, round-the-world flight by a solar-powered plane – which had included a stop in Phoenix, – was suspended Wednesday until 2016 because of “irreversible damage” to the batteries due to overheating en route from Japan to Hawaii, the Solar Impulse team said in a news release.
The grounded plane, dubbed Solar Impulse 2, will be housed in a University of Hawaii hangar at the Kalaeloa airport on Oahu while repairs are made.
It will continue its journey in April, 2016, according to Bertrand Piccard, chairman of the project and one of the two pilots who swap legs of the single-seat aircraft.
