The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Spain on Thursday after completing a 71-hour flight from New York in the first "magical" solo transatlantic crossing in a solar-powered airplane.

Applause broke out as the plane set down in Seville just before 7:40 am where a team was on the ground to welcome Swiss pilot and adventurer Bertrand Piccard.

"It is so fantastic!" Piccard told the plane's mission control center in Monaco in remarks broadcast online as the plane, which took off from New York on Monday, touched down.