The First Lithuanian Flight Across the Atlantic Ocean

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Many stories and even songs have been created about the first Lithuanian flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The pilots made it across the Atlantic, but did not reach Kaunas. Despite that – or maybe because lives were sacrificed for the idea – this flight came to symbolise the firm determination of a small nation and will remain in Lithuanian historical memory for centuries.

Steponas Darius and Stanislovas Girėnas started their flight across the Atlantic Ocean on their airplane Lituanica from the airport in New York on 15 July 1933. Their final destination was Kaunas, the Lithuanian capital at that time. Although they flew across the ocean successfully, the airplane crashed on 17 July. Both pilots were killed. It is a little known fact that the pilots carried an airmail parcel with them, which was later found near the wreckage of the plane. This was the first time in history that letters were transported by plane across the Atlantic.

The idea of the flight came to Darius, a professional pilot who had founded an aeroclub and an aviation school in the United States, when he saw the arrival of Charles Lindbergh, who made the first ever non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, in 1927 in Paris. This flight inspired Darius to repeat the dangerous journey. However, a second pilot was needed to implement this idea. Stanley Girch, known to us as Stanislovas Girėnas, was well versed in aviation technology and agreed to join him.

They  decided to fly across the Atlantic in a civil single-engine aircraft, the Bellanca J-6 CH 300 Pacemaker. The pilots bought it using their savings and money from donations. The aircraft was rebuilt and adapted for transatlantic flight: a more powerful engine was installed, elongated wings were built, and the fuel tank was enlarged. The airplane was christened Lituanica on 6 May 1933.

In addition to the airmail parcel already mentioned, the pilots took a container of drinking water, a coffee thermos, six sandwiches, a few pounds of fruit, bars of condensed milk, a bottle of condensed milk, a few chocolate bars and Scotch vodka with them. Vital radio equipment, parachutes and life vests had to be left behind because the cargo was so heavy.

Lituanica took off from New York's Floyd Bennett Field on 15 July 1933 at 6.24am. Lithuania was ready to welcome the heroes: the mast lights of the Kaunas Radio Station were lit, a military plane patrolled the airspace, and a crowd of 25.000 people gathered at Aleksotas Airport, where Lituanica was expected to land. The plane was due to show up on 17 July at about 2.00–3.00am. As morning came, people gave up on seeing the pilots arrive from New York and started to leave. Why didn't Lituanica reach Kaunas Airport? According to the official version on 17 July at 00.36am the plane crashed into treetops. There are at least a few theories as to why this happened: perhaps the engine broke down, or maybe the fuel ran out and the pilots went for an emergency landing, but miscalculated the altitude because they were tired. The tragedy was reported to Lithuania by the ELTA news agency representative in Berlin at 11:30 the same day. As soon as the news about the deaths of the pilots spread, the Lithuanian Aeroclub declared 30 days of mourning, and President Antanas Smetona named S. Darius and S. Girėnas Lithuanian national heroes. The funeral of the pilots took place on 19 July and about 50.000 people gathered.

In the history of world aviation, the Lituanica flight is mentioned as one of the most efficient ones. In thirty-seven hours and eleven minutes, until the moment of the crash, they had flown 6.411 km. They achieved the second best result in the world in terms of flight distance and the fourth in terms of time spent in the air. They had only 645 km left until Kaunas.