The Pilot’s Haunting Last Words Before The Plane Crashed And Killed Everyone On Board After He Let His Children Fly

What began as a lighthearted moment between a proud father and his children ended in unimaginable tragedy.

On March 23, 1994, Aeroflot Flight 593 was en route from Moscow to Hong Kong when it crashed into the mountains of southern Russia, killing all 75 passengers and crew on board. According to The Mirror, the disaster was not the result of mechanical failure—but a heartbreaking case of human error.

The aircraft was manned by an experienced crew: Captain Andrei Viktorovich Danilov, First Officer Igor Vasilyevich Piskaryov, and Relief Captain Yaroslav Vladimirovich Kudrinsky. The three had logged thousands of flight hours together and were well-trained in managing long-haul operations.

For Captain Kudrinsky, this particular flight was special. It marked the first international journey for his two children, 13-year-old Yana and 15-year-old Eldar. Wanting to make the trip memorable, he invited them into the cockpit—a decision that would soon prove fatal.

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Though airline policy strictly prohibited unauthorized persons in the cockpit, the crew felt it harmless to let the children briefly sit at the controls since the autopilot was engaged.

At approximately 12:43 AM, Yana took her father’s seat, pretending to “fly” the plane while the autopilot maintained control. A few minutes later, Eldar took over. Wanting to simulate real flight, he gently moved the control stick—unaware that his sustained inputs, lasting over 30 seconds and applying up to 10 kilograms of force, had partially disconnected the autopilot.

A small indicator light flickered on to signal the change, but the alert went unnoticed.

With the autopilot disengaged, the plane began to roll into a bank, gradually losing altitude. By the time the crew realized what was happening, the aircraft was already in danger.

In a desperate attempt to regain control, Captain Kudrinsky ordered his son to leave the seat:

“Eldar, get away! Go to the back! You see the danger, don’t you? Go away, Eldar!”

The crew fought to recover the aircraft, but their overcorrections caused the plane to climb sharply, leading to an aerodynamic stall and an unrecoverable spin.

At 12:58 AM, Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain range in Russia’s Kemerovo Oblast. All 75 people aboard perished instantly.

In the aftermath, Aeroflot initially denied pilot error. However, flight data recorders and cockpit voice recordings later confirmed the grim truth: the autopilot had been unintentionally overridden, and the crew had failed to notice in time.

The tragedy of Flight 593 stands as a haunting reminder of how small lapses in judgment—and deviations from safety protocols—can have devastating consequences.

Please share this story to honor the memory of those lost and to remind others of the importance of vigilance in the skies.