Flight 76715

Flight 76715 was a commercial passenger flight that crashed in Moscow on the day of the inter-continental nuclear exchange that ended World War III.

Overview


Flight 76715 was a flight supposedly from Majorca, Spain scheduled to land at Domodedovo International Airport, Moscow Oblast, Russia, that was caught in the middle of the first nuclear exchanges of 2013. Many of the passengers were families coming back from holiday. It was captained by an older man called Tolya and co-piloted by the younger Andrei.

Initially cruising above the clouds, its electronics were suddenly disabled by an electromagnetic pulse wave from a nuclear missile that hit Moscow, causing it to begin an unpowered descent. Panicking, Tolya attempted to contact the ground, but received only the word "Atom" broadcasted over and over again. Once below the clouds, the burning city and mushroom clouds were fully visible to the crew and passengers. At this point, the plane began to nosedive into the city center. Despite Tolya and Andrei managing to steer the plane away from any large buildings, the controls were mostly unresponsive. The cockpit windows were shattered by debris, injuring Andrei as the plane had begun to break apart. The left wing was sheared off by a nearby building, leading to a sharp left roll and finally crashing to the ground.

Final Minutes in the Cockpit
*The plane is cruising above the clouds, Tolya and Andrei at the controls.*

Radio:'' Come in *name*? Do you hear me? *name*. Do you read me?''

''*A flash lights up the sky. The plane's electronics go dead along with its engines. The plane's emergency power manages to light a few controls in the cockpit.*''

Tolya: What happened?!

Andrei: ''What the hell was that?! Shit! We're losing power. The engines are dead. ''

Tolya: ''Domodedovo tower! Flight 76715 here! Mayday! Mayday...! ''

Andrei: ''What... what was that flash?! Ask them!''

Tolya:'' Shit. The tower is gone.''

Andrei:''Tolya! We're going down!''

''*Radio crackles. the ground constantly broadcasting "Atom"*''

Tolya: ''Speed?! What's our airspeed??!''

Andrei:'' The instruments are dead. I can't get a reading!''

''*The plane breaks through cloud layer. Downtown Moscow is visible. At least six missiles have been launched from below. A mushroom cloud engulfs the burning city*''

Andrei: Oh my God!

Tolya: ''Andrei? Andrei! Give me a hand here!''

Andrei: ''Shit! Shit! What's going on here?!''

Tolya:'' *Unintelligible* We're gliding. ''

Andrei:'' A-a-a-a! I don't wanna die!''

Tolya: Get a hold of yourself!

Andrei: ''Come on! Come on! *hits controls* Start! Start! Piece of shit! Right engine's gone, switch to takeoff!"*hits controls again*''

*Unintelligible*

''*The plane begins a sudden nosedive, banking to the left. The plane's altitude warning computer begins blaring "TERRAIN" "TERRAIN" repeatedly.*''

Andrei: We're going down!

''*Unintelligible. Left engine mentioned*''

Tolya: ''Left roll! Fix that left roll!''

''*It descends between some apartment blocks. Pieces of rubble smash the cockpit windows*''

Andrei:'' A-a-a-a! I don't wanna die! ''

*Screaming*

Tolya: ''Andrei, don't panic! We're gonna land! We're gonna land!''

*Screaming*

Aftermath
Both Tolya and Andrei were killed immediately on impact, along with most of the remaining passengers that had not fallen out of the plane as it broke apart. The plane landed directly inside the entrance to the Teatralnaya Metro station, coming to a dead stop with little skidding along the ground. Most of the building was demolished, but little damage was done to the escalators and the Metro station below. The plane was broken in two around halfway along its body and its left wing sheared off by a nearby building, but was otherwise largely intact. With the chaos below, it is unlikely any rescue effort was attempted to look for survivors.

The plane and its crew and passengers remained where it lay for 21 years, slowly rotting away. It was often used as a safe shortcut to the Teatralnaya entrance by Stalkers, fearing the open ground. However, like many of the abandoned areas in Moscow, strange phenomena began to appear, manifesting in hallucinations that placed explorers and Stalkers back in the final moments of the flight. During Artyom and Pavel's journey to Teatralnaya, in "Echoes", both men hallucinated on the plane. Pavel managed to tear off his gas mask, believing he could not breathe. Luckily, Artyom managed to wake up and force Pavel's mask back on - the two quickly left the ghosts of the past for Teatralnaya.

Trivia

 * The type of plane is difficult to make out due to damage and decay, but it appears to be a European Airbus A321 medium range airliner.
 * Judging from the size of the plane and the number of remaining seats, the plane carried around 100-200 passengers. The hallucinations show it was at full capacity. An A321 in real life can carry between 142-210 passengers, depending on the variant. However, the aircraft's interior is large enough to assume it is a widebody aircraft.
 * On the side of the plane, it reads "KOLLI(Ж)ON AIRLINES". The stylized russian letter Ж inside a circle is pronounced as "zh", thereby making the airline's name, humorously, sound like "collision".
 * On the front part of the plane, just before going down the stairs to Theatre Station, there is graffiti reading "CITY OF EVERET". This is a reference to City of Everett, the nickname of the first Boeing 747 plane ever constructed.
 * Throughout their flight, both pilots speak in English, even when crashing. International pilots always speak English to the ground crew, so the communications with Domodedovo Tower was correct. However, one would assume that in an emergency, it would be easier to communicate with each other in their native languages.
 * This is obviously a developer's decision since the audience is English speaking. In the Russian dub, they speak Russian throughout, which would be incorrect when communicating with the ground.
 * Evidently, many other Stalkers succumbed to the hallucinations inside the plane, as there are many corpses with their filters ripped out. Pavel could suffer the same fate if Artyom did not help him.
 * Despite only Tolya and Andrei being seen during the hallucination, there are three skeletons in the cockpit.
 * Despite Pavel's claims that the flight originated from Majorca, Spain, the plane is flying directly over Moscow. Considering that Domodedovo Airport is 40 km south of Moscow, there is no reason it would fly above it. Either Pavel was incorrect or it was a developer oversight.
 * In the novel, the command "Atom" signified the launch of nuclear warheads targeting Russia.
 * After Artyom saves Pavel, he can freely explore the wreckage as the paranormal activities will cease.
 * "76715" is inaccurate for a flight number, as flight numbers only go up to four numbers.