Stasys Girėnas

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Stasys Girėnas

Stasys Girėnas (born Stasys Girskis; October 4, 1893 in Vytogala, Lithuania – July 17, 1933 in Pszczelnik near Soldin, Germany) was a Lithuanian-American pilot.

Born in Vytogala, in the Raseiniai District, he emigrated to the USA in 1910. As a young man he worked in printing house. He joined the United States Army in 1917, during World War I, where he was trained to become a mechanic. In 1919, after retiring, he worked for some time as a taxi driver in Chicago, at the same time learning to fly. He bought a plane and in 1925 he was injured in an air crash, but he continued flying and working in civil aviation. In 1931 have won the main prize in Chicago air festival for the best landing of the plane with its engine turned off.

On July 15, 1933, he along with Steponas Darius, attempted a nonstop flight from New York City, USA to Kaunas, Lithuania - a total of 7,186 km, in a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane named "Lituanica". After successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 37 hours and 11 minutes of nonstop flight, they crashed on July 17, 0:36 AM (Berlin Time) by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, Myslibórz area, Poland) due to difficult weather conditions combined with engine defects. Both aviators were killed in the crash. They covered a distance of 3,984 miles (6,411 kilometers) without landing, only 650 km short of their final destination.