Lithuanian, Polish presidents honor pilots' cross-Atlantic flight

Jul 14, 2008
In cooperation with BNS

VILNIUS- Events begin today to commemorate the 75-year anniversary since Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas' flight across the Atlantic Ocean.  

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus arrived in Poland on Sunday to participate in the ceremony of commemoration of the anniversary together with his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski.

Speaking at the monument constructed in 1936 in the forest of Pszczelnik, the place where the small airplane crashed, the two presidents underscored the symbolic importance of the trans-Atlantic flight of the two Lithuanian pilots.

"We commemorate the anniversary of the tragic death of two men who had embarked on a mission impossible, demonstrating their courage and determination to bring fame to their homeland. They achieved their goal," Kaczynski said.

The Polish leader made a brief overview of the interwar events, noting that in the face of difficult historic events that tested the two nations have independent countries that foster mutual cooperation and friendship.

Meanwhile, Adamkus said that the day of the tragic death of the two pilots, July 17, also commemorated the World Lithuanian Unity Day.

"They were the first to carry trans-Atlantic air mail from Lithuanian Americans to their loved ones and friends in Lithuania, heralding regular air flights across the Atlantic," Adamkus noted.

Among other persons, the delegation at the events included Darius' grandson Skirmuntas Mastaras of Kretinga, a town in western Lithuania.

"My heart skips a beat while I'm standing here (at the crash site). Viewing from the positions of these days, the flight indicates enormous love of their homeland. Today it seems some kind of venture," Mastaras told journalists.

The events to mark the 75-year anniversary since the trans-Atlantic flight of Darius and Girenas are held in Polish towns of Pszczelnik, Mysliborz and Szczecin.

On July 15th of 1933, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas departed with the Lituanika airplane for New York from central Lithuanian city Kaunas, and despite of difficult weather conditions and absence of radio devices, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the time period of 37 hours.

With 650 km remaining to cover before reaching Kaunas, the aviators were both fatally injured as their plane crashed near Pszczelnik (then Germany, currently Poland). Causes behind the crash are not fully clear. According to the official version, the crash was caused by the storm or motor failure. There is another version, however, that the plane was shot down by Germans, who mistook it for an enemy aircraft.