Kandagar Russian also known as Kandahar is a Russian film detailing the escape of a Russian crew from Afghanistan Taliban fighters on August 16, 1996. The film stars some of Russias most famous actors, Vladimir Mashkov, Andrei Panin and Alexander Baluyev. The movie is based on the Russian pilots, Vladimir Sharpatov, diary. The film was released in Russia on April 4, 2010. The Andrey Kavun film is the first to describe Russias history in Afghanistan after their withdrawal from the country.
Unexpected negligence from Russian diplomats caused the prisoners to take steps toward their freedom themselves. The captain was forced to teach Taliban soldiers to fly the plane, and the rest of the hostages were allowed to visit their aircraft for maintenance.At some point the Russian crew worked out the escape plan, and during one of the maintenance visits for landing gear work, they were able to gain control over the plane. Despite interception efforts by Taliban base guards, which caused the aircraft to start the takeoff having only half of the runway, they were able to take off. Despite several technical difficulties immediately after takeoff, they finally gained a safe cruising altitude and speed. ........
Source: Wikipedia