Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed on March 23, 1994, killing all 75 passengers and crew. The disaster was caused by an avoidable mistake—Relief Captain Yaroslav Kudrinsky let his children, Yana (13) and Eldar (15), sit at the controls while the autopilot was engaged.

At 12:43 AM, Yana sat in the pilot’s seat, pretending to fly. Minutes later, Eldar took over, unknowingly applying enough pressure to override the autopilot. A warning light flashed, but the crew ignored it. The plane began banking dangerously, and Kudrinsky yelled, “Eldar, get away… you see the danger, don’t you?”

The pilots tried to regain control, but their overcorrection caused the aircraft to stall and enter an unrecoverable spin. At 12:58 AM, Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau Mountains.

Aeroflot initially denied pilot error, but flight recordings proved otherwise. The tragedy was caused by human error and regulatory violations, as the crew failed to recognize the autopilot’s disengagement and allowed unauthorized persons in the cockpit.