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Pilot's terrifying four final words before plane crashed and killed all 170 on board

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The terrible crash led to the deaths of all 170 people on board, and the frantic final moments in the cockpit were recorded in precise detail, including some of the pilots' final words

[Mature pilot sitting in cockpit stock photo]

The recording reveals the final panicked moments on board the doomed flight (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

One of the most chilling facts about aviation disasters is that, due to the fact that cabins and cockpits are meticulously monitored, the panicked last moments of those involved are recorded in precise detail.

Such is the case with the final seconds of Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 612, a flight which tragically crashed mid-journey on its way from southern Russia to St Petersburg in August 2006.

Horrifyingly, not one of its 160 passengers and 10 crew members ever reached their destination.

Things starting to go wrong when, around 30 minutes into the flight, the plane hit a severe thunderstorm. In a desperate attempt at reaching safety, the pilot requested permission to climb to 39,000 feet in order to avoid the turbulence.

[plane ]

The crash killed everyone on board. (Image: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Clearance was granted and the aircraft reported reaching cruising altitude shortly before 3:35pm.

Seconds later, the situation inside the cockpit began to unravel.

The autopilot was disengaged at 3:35:02pm. Almost immediately, the stall warning activated. The aircrafts angle of attack surged to 46 degrees while its forward airspeed dropped to zero.

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The jet entered a deep stall a perilous aerodynamic condition from which recovery becomes increasingly difficult at high altitude.

In the cockpit voice recording, the rising panic is unmistakable. As the aircraft was battered by the storm, the captain can be heard turning to his co-pilot and asking: Can we move a little away from the thunderstorm, Igor?

Several crew members can then be heard asking the pilot to descend, only for him to ignore them and call them idiots.

[Pilot in a cockpit]

The recording is deeply distressing to listen to (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

He can then be shouting orders at the others in and around the cock pit, demanding they stay calm. Clearly realising the gravity of the situation, another voice can be heard saying We are really going down.

A person described as a trainee pilot in the official transcript then utters the following chilling words "I dont want to die, I dont want to die Dont kill us, please.

According to Anatoli Samoshin, Vice Flight Operations Director at Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise, At an altitude of 37,000 feet, the aircraft sent three SOS signals, dropped sharply in altitude and sent another SOS at 9,800 feet. After that, there were no further communications.

Two of the aircrafts three engines flamed out during the stall. Air traffic controllers were aware the plane was descending, but the crew were unable to regain control.

At 15:38:29, just minutes after the first signs of trouble, the Tu-154 slammed into the ground near the village of Sukha Balka in eastern Ukraine, about 45 kilometres northwest of Donetsk.

Witnesses on the ground later reported seeing the aircraft fall from the sky before bursting into flames on impact. The debris field stretched roughly 400 metres.

Investigators later concluded that the crash was caused by the aircraft being flown manually at excessive angles of attack, leading to a stall and subsequent flat spin.

The final report also cited inadequate training and poor crew resource management as factors that allowed the emergency to escalate into a fatal loss of control.

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