Ahmedabad: After a series of long delays and relentless wait at the Ahmedabad airport, Solar Impulse 2 pilot Bertrand Piccard finally got his passport stamped and now he is enroute to Varanasi.
Happy ending for @bertrandpiccard, who is now on his way to #Varanasi with part of the #solarTEAM! What a day! pic.twitter.com/wD9xiWdkDU
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) March 18, 2015
From Varanasi, Piccard will be heading to Myanmar for the fourth flight of SI2, which is scheduled to complete its circumnavigation of the Earth by the end of May this year.
The Swiss pilot was reportedly angry because of the delay by Indian immigration officials because he was waiting to get all the crew members' passports stamped for their third flight to Varanasi, which was scheduled for Sunday but the clearance resulted in the delay.
When solar-powered planes took the challenge to be the first to circumnavigate the globe powered solely by the sun, the makers didn't know that they will have greater challenges to tackle here in India. Upon reaching Ahmedabad, the pilots got the real picture of India's red tapism and bureaucracy which led to major delays in their schedule.
Twitter became the vent out platform for all the drama and frustration which the pilots and officials had to go through.
The flight to Varanasi was delayed by around seven hours as the Solar Impulse team experienced delays dealing with Indian custom officials.
PLEASE RT #Si2passport: @bertrandpiccard is blocked with part of #solarTEAM in #Ahmedabad because of customs issues! pic.twitter.com/wpx0e4Icjl
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) March 18, 2015
Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss pilot of Solar Impulse 2, said the aircraft's take-off from Ahmedabad was delayed by five days because of tedious paperwork.
"I'm not here to accuse anybody. I just say that since the last five days we are trying to get all the stamps and every day (they) say tomorrow," a frustrated Piccard said.
BREAKING: @bertrandpiccard blocked in #Ahmedabad to get a stamp in his passport. Does anyone can help? #Si2passport pic.twitter.com/2jxHq4x2TK
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) March 18, 2015
In times of crisis, humour certainly helps. Look how they poked fun at the custom officials.
#Si2passport: @bertrandpiccard waiting for clearance from immigration to go to #Varanasi. Could be mission critical. pic.twitter.com/WqxeKer5hS
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) March 18, 2015
