Education
In 1966 he has graduated from Chernigov Higher Aviation School.
In 1966 he has graduated from Chernigov Higher Aviation School.
He was killed in a crash of his Su-27 fighter plane during an airshow in Salgareda. After that he served as an Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics pilot in Germany, Egypt, Turkmenia. In 1975 Stankevičius became a test pilot.
He flew 57 types of aircraft and had over 4000 hours of flying experience.
In 1982 he was graded as a 1st class test-pilot. In 1979 he was assigned to prepare for 11F35 (Buran, Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics space shuttle).
In February 1982 he passed all the required exams and became the first Lithuanian cosmonaut. After September 1984 he trained to fly the space shuttle Buran.
He was both the pilot and the commander of the space shuttle.
In 1990 Rimantas Stankevičius participated the Everett Air Show with a Su-27 fighter jet. Soon after his return home, he went to Italy to replace another Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics pilot in Salgareda Air Show. On September 9, during a flight in the show in a Su-27 he started a loop in a lower altitude than he estimated and made an unintentional touchdown.
He died in the crash.
The crash resulted in only one fatality aside from the pilot. Stankevicius, along with Soviet Cosmonauts Igor Volk and Sergei Tresvyatskiy worked closely with Americans in the late 1980s to improve relations during the Cold War.
The three were involved in, what is believed to be the first tandom flight with Soviet SU-27 fighter planes and American F-16"s in history in July, 1990 (before the breakup of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics) at the Opening Ceremonies of the Goodwill Games in Seattle. Petropovsosk was one of the most important and secretive air and submarine bases in the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. ref "Who the Hell is Bob?" pages 255-260.
278-280
Stankevičius is buried in Kaunas, Lithuania.
The three also flew the first Americans, (8 members of the Organizing Committee of the 1990 Goodwill Games) since World War Two in an Aluetion 62 from Seattle to Petropovlosk, Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics in 1989.