Though the plane was briefly under manual control, it veered off course, entered a stall, and crashed into Russia’s Kuznetsk Alatau mountains. Black box recordings captured the crew’s desperate attempts to recover control, as well as the chaos that unfolded in the final minutes.
The crash was ruled a result of human error—specifically, unauthorized cockpit access. In response, Aeroflot and the aviation industry tightened cockpit protocols, reinforcing the importance of strict safety rules.