Aeroflot Flight 593 went down on 23 March 1994 while traveling from Moscow to Hong Kong. All 75 people on board were killed instantly when the plane struck a mountain range, making the crash one of the deadliest aviation disasters recorded at the time.
The tragedy unfolded shortly after relief captain Yaroslav Vladimirovich Kudrinsky invited his two children — Eldar, 15, and Yana, 13 — into the cockpit during the flight. This seemingly harmless visit would soon lead to a catastrophic chain of events that no one could undo.
Yaroslav unknowingly pushed the control stick for over 30 seconds. That movement was long enough to override the autopilot system and switch several aircraft functions back into manual mode without anyone noticing.
Although a warning light did appear, none of the pilots saw it. As the autopilot’s remaining active components fought against the teen’s movements, Eldar quickly lost control. Even with experienced pilots in the cockpit, the crew could not regain command once the plane stalled, rolled, and spiraled out of control.
No one survived. At first, the airline released a statement implying that the pilots were not to blame.
But this changed once the black box recording became public, revealing Yaroslav’s frantic final commands telling his children to leave the cockpit.
She described the moment she learned the fate of her husband and both of their children, a moment that has stayed with her ever since.
She said: “For some time, they wouldn’t tell me anything specific, and only on the next day, the airline director told me there was no hope whatsoever.”
“It was a horrible moment, of course. It’s hard to believe.”
Listening to her husband’s final words brought the tragedy into sharper focus and forced her to relive the moment in a way she never expected.
In the recording, Kudrinsky can be heard shouting: “Eldar, get away. Go to the back, go to the back, Eldar! You see the danger, don’t you? Go away, go away, Eldar!”
“Go away, go away. I tell you to go away!”
