The famous solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, which made a historic round-the-world flight in 2016, crashed and was completely destroyed. The incident happened on May 4, 2026, during an autonomous test flight by Skydweller Aero over the Gulf of Mexico. The drone crashed into the water because of a “catastrophic loss of power.” The plane’s creators, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, are really bummed out because the aircraft was supposed to become an exhibit at the Swiss Museum of Transport following the tests.
The solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 2 crashed off the coast of the United States, according to Gizmodo.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said in a report that the incident happened on May 4 during an autonomous test flight over the Gulf of Mexico.
The experimental aircraft, which had just completed a historic round-the-world flight, suddenly lost power. Based on the info we have, no one was hurt in the crash because the flight was unmanned.
The story of this plane started in 2015, when Swiss citizens Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg created it to show how clean energy works. The giant had a wingspan of 70 meters, weighed just over two tons, and was covered with thousands of solar cells. The developers said it was a true technological flagship.
But in 2019, the project took a different turn. Solar Impulse 2 was sold to Skydweller Aero. The new owners turned the symbol of environmentalism into a military surveillance drone. During its last flight from an airport in Mississippi, the plane experienced a “catastrophic loss of power,” and it completely destroyed itself when it hit the water.
The people who created the aircraft are pretty open about how upset they are about what happened.
We heard about the crash of the Skydweller solar drone on social media. The Solar Impulse team is bummed about the loss of this important technological flagship,” wrote Piccard and Borschberg.
After the testing was finished, the plan was to put the aircraft on display at the Swiss Museum of Transport. But now, the legacy of Solar Impulse 2 will only be remembered in aviation history.