It’s just before 1am on the 23rd of March, 1994, An Airbus A310 cruises on autopilot at 33,000 feet above a frozen Siberian landscape. Aeroflot 593 is a regular Moscow to Hong Kong passenger service operating under the Russian International Airlines subsidiary of the national carrier, Aeroflot. The pride of Aeroflot’s fleet, the aircraft is named Glinka, after the father of classical music in Russia, Mihail Glinka. Aeroflot 593 carries 63 passengers and 12 crew members.

On the flight deck are five people:

• Relief Captain Yaroslav Kudrinsky
• Acting First Officer Igor Piskaryov
• Vladimir Makarov – An experience Aeroflot pilot who is travelling as a passenger
• Yana Kudrinsky – 13, Relief Captain Kudrinsky’s daughter.
• Eldar Kudrinsky – 15 Kudrinsky’s son.

What will begin as a father’s wish to fulfil their child’s dream will rapidly descend into chaos. In 5 minutes, those in the cockpit and everybody aboard will be dead.

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