were painted. The aircraft was dubbed Lituanica, Latin for Lithuania. Pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas were Lithuanian pilots, emigrants to the United States, who made a significant flight in the history of world aviation. On July 15, 1933, they flew across the Atlantic Ocean, covering a distance of 3,984 miles (6,411 kilometers) without landing, in 37 hours and 11 minutes (107.1 mph). In terms of comparison, as far as the distance of non-stop flights was concerned, their result ranked second only to that of Russell Boardman and John Polando, and ranked fourth in terms of duration of flight at the time. Although Darius and Girenas did not have navigational equipment and flew under unfavorable weather conditions, the flight was one of the most precise in aviation history. It equaled, and in some aspects surpassed, Charles Lindbergh's classic flight. Lituanica also carried the first Transtlantic air mail consignment in history. Flight An ordinary unmodified plane of this size cannot cover a comparable distance (the Cessna 152, for instance, has a range of 1200 km), even today. The flight was also important from a scientific and technological perspective, as it explored air flows and the capabilities of this type of aircraft. In their last letter, the pilots wrote that either a successful flight or a possible catastrophe would be valuable and significant enough and hence it was worthwhile to fly in either case. After taking off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York on July 15, 1933, 6:24 am EDT, Darius and Girėnas successfully crossed the Atlantic, only to perish on July 17, 0:36 am (CET) by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, near Myślibórz, Poland ( 52°51'11.57"N 14°50'17.78"E)). The planned route was: New York – Newfoundland – Atlantic Ocean – Ireland – London – Amsterdam – Swinemünde – Königsberg – Kaunas airport (a total of 7,186 km). Due to weather conditions over Ireland, they veered to the north and reached Germany via Scotland and the North Sea. In 37 hours and 11 minutes, until the moment of the crash, they had flown 6411 km (over 7000 km in actual flight path), only 636 km short of their goal—Kaunas. Possible reasons for the crash A Lithuanian board of investigation was appointed to determine the cause. It concluded that the pilots were properly qualified, and the aircraft was properly outfitted. They added that the most difficult part of the