Pilot's last words as he let his kids take control of plane before crash killed all
A pilot let his children play with the controls with his eldest disengaging the plane's autopilot by mistake.
The chilling final words of a pilot, spoken just before his plane crashed into a mountain, killing everyone onboard, reveal that he had allowed his children to play with the controls.
The infamous Aeroflot Flight 593 was en route from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia to Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong on March 23, 1994. However, a fatal error resulted in the flight ending in complete disaster before it ever reached its destination.
The aircraft was carrying 12 crew members and 63 passengers, including Yaroslav Kudrinsky's two children, who were embarking on their first international journey, reports Mirror UK.
Midway through the flight, the most seasoned pilot, Captain Andrey Danilov, left the cockpit for a break, leaving Kudrinsky, 39, and First Officer Igor Piskaryov, 33, in control of the aircraft.
With the plane on autopilot and the course set, Kudrinsky seized the opportunity to give his two children a tour of the cockpit while most of the passengers slept.
Eager to provide them with a memorable experience, he let each of them sit in the Captain's seat and touch the controls, giving them the sensation of flying the plane.
Yana, 12, took her turn first without incident, with her father subtly adjusting the flight path to create the sensation she was steering the aircraft, even though autopilot remained engaged. Her 16-year-old brother Edgar followed.
Once more, Kudrinsky made minor control adjustments to give his son a taste of piloting, but in his enthusiasm, the teenager pressed forcefully on the control column, applying approximately 22lbs of pressure.
A Russian pilot let his two children into the cockpit
Unknown to the flight crew, this action disengaged the plane's autopilot, meaning Edgar was briefly flying the aircraft for real. A silent alert flashed on the flight deck but went unnoticed by both pilots initially.
Recognizing his son had applied too much force, Kudrinsky can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder instructing him to release the controls. He said: "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!".
The plane rolled into a perilously steep bank angle of 90 degrees, prompting first officer Piskaryov to urge Kudrinsky to apply "full power" to the engines to recover. However, the aircraft couldn't withstand such an extreme turn and entered a stall.
The pilot's son disengaged the autopilot by mistake
Although the pilots managed to correct this initially and restore the plane to a normal attitude, the inexperienced first officer inadvertently overcorrected, causing the aircraft to stall again. Despite attempts to regain control, the aircraft began spiraling and crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain range below at a speed of 160mph, instantly killing all onboard.
The entire tragic and completely preventable incident unfolded in just two-and-a-half minutes.
Aeroflot initially denied that there were children in the cockpit during the crash, but they eventually admitted to passengers being in the flight deck after black box data revealed the truth.