Some aviation disasters are especially haunting, and the events of March 23, 1994, stand out as one of the most disturbing cases I’ve ever encountered.
This particular tragedy, one of the most preventable in the history of flight, unfolded when a pilot’s decision to let his children enter the cockpit led to a catastrophe that resulted in the loss of 75 lives.
Since childhood, I’ve been captivated by the world of aviation, which naturally drew me to investigate the causes behind various plane crashes.
I’ve seen nearly every episode of Air Crash Investigation, the series that delves into the realities behind notorious air disasters. Yet, there’s one episode that continues to unsettle me. It transports viewers into the cockpit of RIA Flight 593, where the crew battles not only technical challenges and gravity, but also the consequences of a child being at the controls.
The cockpit voice recording from that ill-fated flight is something I’ll never be able to erase from my memory.
What started as a routine journey quickly turned tragic.
On March 23, 1994, Aeroflot Flight 593 was traveling from Moscow to Hong Kong when it crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountains in southern Russia, killing everyone aboard.
Everything proceeded normally until the captain’s children, Yana (13) and Eldar (15), were permitted to handle the controls—a decision that proved fatal.
Captain Yaroslav Kudrinsky, a seasoned aviator with nearly 9,000 flight hours, welcomed his children into the cockpit on their first international trip. It’s important to recall that in 1994, post-Soviet Russia was embracing a new era, flying advanced Airbus A-310s.
At the time, it wasn’t unusual for pilots to invite family or select passengers into the cockpit during flights.
However, Kudrinsky’s choice to let his children interact with the controls was a grave violation of regulations.
The situation escalated rapidly.
While the autopilot was engaged, Kudrinsky believed it was harmless to let his children try the controls, unaware of the disastrous sequence about to unfold.
At 12:43 a.m., Yana sat in the pilot’s seat, pretending to operate the plane.
“Daddy, can I turn this?” she asked, settling in at the controls.
“Daddy, lift me up,” she said, trying to get a better view.
Her father pointed out the stars and city lights, warning her not to touch any buttons.
Things took a dangerous turn when Eldar took over. The captain assumed his son was simply playing: “Turn it! Watch the ground as you turn. Let’s go left. Turn left! Is the plane turning?”
“Great!” Eldar responded.
Eldar was the first to sense trouble.
While Eldar was at the controls, he unintentionally switched the autopilot to manual mode.
A warning light briefly illuminated, but the crew, unfamiliar with some aspects of the aircraft’s systems, missed the alert. Eldar was the first to realize something was wrong as the plane began banking to the right.
The aircraft started losing altitude, and a desperate effort to regain control ensued.
Eldar had only been in the seat for four minutes when the plane suddenly rolled into a steep 45-degree bank, pinning everyone in their seats with tremendous G-forces. Passengers and crew struggled to move under the pressure. Eldar couldn’t get out of the seat, while his father, panicked, shouted instructions and tried to take back control with one hand.
Despite Captain Kudrinsky’s frantic efforts to stabilize the aircraft, he was unsuccessful. His final words were a desperate command to his son: “Eldar, get away. Go to the back!”
For a brief moment, the G-forces eased, allowing the pilots to sit up and attempt to regain control, but they quickly ran out of altitude.
All 75 people on board lost their lives.
The plane went into an unrecoverable spin, stalled, and crashed at over 160 mph.
When the aircraft struck the ground, all 75 passengers and crew died instantly. The A310 crashed with its landing gear up, and all passengers were strapped in, bracing for an emergency landing. No distress call was sent before impact.
Initially, Aeroflot denied any breach of protocol or that children had been present in the cockpit. This was disproved when a Moscow magazine published the cockpit voice recorder transcript in September 1994, confirming the children’s involvement.
Investigators later determined that human error—specifically, the captain’s decision to let his children handle the controls—was the main cause. Despite clear rules against such actions, Kudrinsky allowed his kids to interact with the aircraft.
This disaster remains one of the most tragic and avoidable in aviation history, serving as a stark warning about the importance of adhering to safety procedures. The loss of life was entirely preventable.