One of the most haunting tragedies in aviation history unfolded on March 23, 1994, when Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed en route from Moscow to Hong Kong, killing all 75 people on board. The heartbreaking cause of the crash was later revealed to be the result of a well-meaning but disastrous decision made by one of the pilots—allowing his children to sit in the cockpit and interact with the plane’s controls. What was meant to be a special moment for a father and his kids ended in catastrophe and serves as a painful reminder of how quickly things can spiral out of control in the air.
The plane was operated by an experienced flight crew. Captain Andrey Viktorovich Danilov had logged an impressive 9,500 hours in the air, and he was joined by First Officer Igor Vasilyevich Piskaryov and Relief Captain Yaroslav Vladimirovich Kudrinsky. All three were seasoned professionals, but even their collective experience couldn’t prevent what was about to happen. This particular flight was also a milestone for Kudrinsky’s children, 13-year-old Yana and 15-year-old Eldar, as it was their first time traveling internationally. Wanting to make the experience memorable, Kudrinsky brought them into the cockpit during the flight—something that, while strictly against aviation rules, was not unheard of during that era.
Around 12:43 a.m., Yana was allowed to sit in the captain’s seat. With the plane cruising on autopilot, she playfully “flew” the plane under the watchful eye of her father and the crew. A few minutes later, Eldar took his turn. Believing the controls were inactive due to the autopilot system, the pilots allowed him to handle the control stick. What they didn’t realize was that Eldar’s inputs—especially the force he applied—were enough to disrupt the autopilot’s function. For over 30 seconds, Eldar exerted pressure on the controls, at one point reaching up to 10 kilograms. This caused the plane’s system to quietly switch from autopilot to manual mode.
A small indicator light blinked to warn the crew that manual control had been engaged, but due to their limited experience with Western aircraft systems, they didn’t notice the signal. Without realizing it, the pilots had lost automated assistance, and the aircraft began to bank gradually. Because autopilot was no longer stabilizing the plane, it started to drift dangerously off course. The problem escalated quickly. Once the crew became aware that something was wrong, Captain Kudrinsky took action, moving his son out of the seat and ordering the co-pilot to help stabilize the aircraft. His final words to Eldar, captured by the cockpit voice recorder, are a chilling glimpse into the panic that followed: “Eldar, get away. Go to the back, go to the back, Eldar! You see the danger, don’t you?” His voice became more frantic as he shouted, “Go away, go away, Eldar! Go away, go away. I tell you to go away!”
@onlythemostviral This is a reconstruction of Aeroflot Flight 193, all of this data was recovered in the black box. No evidence of a technical malfunction was found. Cockpit voice and flight data recorders revealed the presence of the relief captain’s 13-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son in the cockpit. While seated at the controls, the pilot’s son had unknowingly partially disengaged the A310’s autopilot control of the aircraft’s ailerons. The autopilot then disengaged completely, causing the aircraft to roll into a steep bank and a near-vertical dive. Despite managing to level the aircraft, the first officer over-corrected when pulling up, causing the plane to stall and enter into a spin; the pilots managed to level the aircraft off once more, but the plane had descended beyond a safe altitude to initiate a recovery and subsequently crashed into the mountain range. All 75 occupants died on impact. #planecrash #plane #viral #emergency #airemergency #aviationlovers #aviationlife #aviationdaily #crash #aeroflot #aeroflot593 #aeroflotcrash #aviationtiktok #emergencylanding #emergencyintercom #accident #russia #россия #россия🇷🇺 #аеропорт #прикол ♬ original sound – Only The Most Viral
Despite their efforts to recover, the pilots unintentionally overcorrected, causing the aircraft to pitch upward into a steep climb. This sudden maneuver led to an aerodynamic stall, which caused the plane to lose lift and begin a violent spin. The aircraft quickly began to fall, descending below safe altitude as it passed over the mountainous region of the Kuznetsk Alatau in southern Russia. At 12:58 a.m., just over two minutes after the chain of errors began, Flight 593 crashed into the mountainside at a vertical speed of approximately 160 miles per hour. The plane was destroyed on impact. One minute later, air traffic control in Novokuznetsk waited for the scheduled position update—but it never came. The flight had vanished from radar.
All 75 people onboard were killed instantly. In the immediate aftermath, Aeroflot denied that the crew had made any mistakes. However, investigations and cockpit recordings told a different story. The evidence showed that human error, caused by the unauthorized presence of children in the cockpit and the crew’s unfamiliarity with the aircraft’s response system, was responsible for the tragedy. What began as a father’s attempt to create a memorable experience for his children ultimately ended in one of the most avoidable aviation disasters in modern history.
