Some plane crashes are more terrifying than others, and what occurred on March 23, 1994, is one of the most disturbing stories I’ve ever heard.
In one of the most devastating and avoidable aviation mishaps in history, a pilot made the fatal mistake of allowing his children to sit in the cockpit, resulting in a calamity that claimed 75 lives.
I’ve been fascinated with aviation since I was a child, which naturally led me to investigate the reasons of plane crashes.
I believe I’ve seen almost every episode of Air Crash Investigation, the show that reveals the truth about major aviation mishaps. But one episode still sends shivers down my spine whenever I think about it. It transports you into the cockpit of RIA Flight 593, where the pilots must contend with a recalcitrant plane, gravity, and, unfortunately, a youngster at the controls.
I doubt I’ll ever forget the audio recording from that flight.
A typical flight—until this occurred.
On March 23, 1994, Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau Mountains in southern Russia, killing everyone on board.
The trip had been rather regular until the captain’s children, Yana, 13, and Eldar, 15, were allowed to take the controls, which sealed their fate.
Captain Yaroslav Kudrinsky, an experienced pilot with over 8,940 flying hours, let his children into the cockpit for their first international flight. We must remember that this was 1994, and post-Soviet Russia was embarking on a new era with a fleet of advanced Airbus A-310 aircraft.
The country was preparing for the future, and its pilots were part of an elite group that had been rigorously trained to handle the latest aviation technology. Back in 1994, it was typical for family members or a few select passengers to access the cockpit during flights.
However, Captain Kudrinsky made a fatal mistake that was strictly prohibited.
Quickly took a terrifying turn.
While the plane was on autopilot, Kudrinsky thought it was safe for the children to experiment with the controls, not realizing the devastating chain of events that would soon follow.
Yana sat down at 12:43 a.m. and pretended to fly the plane.
“Daddy, can I turn this?” Yana asked as she sat at the controls.
“Daddy, raise me up,” she said, seemingly attempting to gain a better perspective.
Her father then pointed out the stars and city lights, warning her not to press any buttons.
Eldar assumed charge of the plane, and the situation quickly became scary. His father, the captain, assumed he was just fooling around: “Turn it! Watch the ground as you turn. Let’s go left. Turn left! “Is the plane turning?”
“Great!” Eldar responded.
The son was the first to notice.
Unfortunately, when manipulating the control stick, Eldar accidentally shifted the plane from autopilot to manual mode.
A little warning light flashed, but the crew, unfamiliar with the aircraft’s equipment, missed the alert. Eldar was the first to detect something was amiss when he observed the plane begin to tilt to the right.
The plane then to lose altitude, and a desperate effort to restore control began.
Eldar had been in the pilot’s seat for just four minutes when the plane suddenly slanted into a 45-degree bank, slamming everyone into their seats with tremendous G-forces. The staff and passengers tried to move under the great strain. Eldar was unable to move out of his seat, as his panicked father yelled orders at him and attempted to retake control with one hand.
Captain Kudrinsky’s desperate attempts to steady the jet proved useless. His final words were a desperate plea to his son: “Eldar, get away. “Go to the back!”
For a brief moment, the G-forces return to normal, allowing the pilot to sit upright again. He and the first officer manage to grab control of the jet, but their efforts are worthless since they shortly run out of available airspace.
75 passengers and crew members perished.
The damage was done, and the plane swirled wildly, stalling before plummeting to the ground at more than 160 mph.
When the jet finally crashed, all 75 passengers and crew were killed instantly. The A310 crashed with its landing gear retracted, and all passengers were already strapped into their seats, expecting an emergency landing. There were no distress messages sent out prior to the collision.
Aeroflot first denied any wrongdoing and dismissed reports that minors were in the cockpit during the disaster. However, this was eventually proven incorrect when the Moscow-based journal Obozrevatel published a translation of the cockpit audio recording on September 28, 1994, proving the presence of the youngsters.
An inquiry eventually revealed that human error, specifically the decision to allow the toddlers to handle the controls, was the root reason. Despite restrictions preventing it, Kudrinsky let his children fly the jet.
The tragedy remains one of the deadliest and most preventable aircraft catastrophes in history, serving as a sobering warning of the dangers of disregarding safety regulations. Rest in peace, all victims; this did not have to happen!