In 1994, Aeroflot Flight 593, a Russian Airlines flight from Moscow to Hong Kong crashed, resulting in the death of all 75 people aboard. There were three pilots aboard since it was such a long haul. When relief pilot Captain Yaroslav Vladimirovich Kudrinsky took over, he brought his two children, ages 12 and 15, into the cockpit and let them each sit in the captain's seat. Kudrinsky led them to believe they were really controlling the plane, but one move led the plane to disengage the automatic pilot. An indicator light came on, but Kudrinsky was used to old Soviet planes that had an audio alarm. The sequence of events as reconstructed after the fact was complicated, but it all came down to plane crash due to showing off.
No matter how good you are at flying a plane, or how long you've been doing it, there are certain risks that you just can't take. There have been several incidents in which pilots pushed their luck by showing off, making a bet, or allowing someone unqualified to do their job, leading to death by plane crash. Read about Aeroflot Flight 593 and four other crashes due to tomfoolery at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: Anna Zvereva)
