The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft flew by the Statue of Liberty early this morning, near the end of the US portion of its bid to circle the globe using only solar power.
"It's absolutely incredible," Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg said over a live feed from the aircraft as the iconic statue lit up the night below him.
"It's a dream here."
The light, slow-moving aircraft took less than three hours to reach New York's harbour, after taking off from Lehigh Valley Airport in Pennsylvania shortly before midnight.
Cameras in a boat in New York harbour captured the innovative solar powered aircraft as it flew over the Verrazano Bridge and headed toward the towering Lady Liberty.
Ending the US crossing at the Statue of Liberty "is a very strong moment for me", said Mr Borschberg as he approached New York, calling it a "symbol of the freedom of enterprise, the freedom to innovate".
After the flyover, the plane was to travel across the Manhattan skyline and then land at New York's Kennedy Airport.
It was the 14th leg of an east-west journey that began on 9 March 2015 in Abu Dhabi, and has taken the aircraft across Asia and the Pacific to the United States.
From New York the Solar Impulse team will attempt to cross the Atlantic to Europe and on to the Middle East.
Borschberg has alternated with fellow Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, a doctor who made the first non-stop balloon flight around the world in 1999.
Their goal is to be the first to circumnavigate the Earth with the sun as their aircraft's only source of power.
The single-seat aircraft, which has the wingspan of a Boeing 747, is clad in 17,000 solar cells.
During night flights like the one from Pennsylvania to New York, it runs on battery-stored power.
It typically travels at 48km/h, although its flight speed can double when exposed to full sunlight.
