attendants, and three pilots. The disaster was triggered when relief pilot Yaroslav Vladimirovich Kudrinsky permitted his two teenage children, 12-year-old Yana and 16-year-old Eldar, into the cockpit.

While the aircraft was on autopilot, Kudrinsky allowed his children to interact with the controls. Although autopilot was engaged, ensuring the plane couldn’t be directly manipulated, Eldar accidentally disengaged the autopilot for about 30 seconds by pushing the controls too forcefully. During this brief period, Eldar inadvertently took control of the aircraft, causing it to veer sharply and lose its flight path.

The plane’s black box captured the final moments, including Yana’s pleas and Yaroslav’s warnings as the aircraft began to descend rapidly. Despite the pilots’ frantic attempts to regain control, the Airbus A310 stalled and entered a fatal dive. Although they briefly recovered the aircraft, a second stall led to the crash into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain range.

Investigations revealed no technical faults, pinpointing the pilots’ decision to allow the children into the cockpit as the primary cause. In the aftermath, Aeroflot reinforced stricter cockpit protocols to prevent such tragedies from recurring.