Bad news. Been to FRU last year. very large airport, all area around very flat ( the only flat bit around the country ) and a very long runway. Bad luck possibly.
As to the numbers of crew on Russian aircraft , this was also part of the political design at the time to prevent defection of the crew to the west. With more people involved it becomes more difficult for one pilot alone to change course unoticed. In the Tu 134 for instance, the Navigator ( on the nose ) had the nav dials but not the frequency box. The pilot had an artificial horizon but no navigation dials. etc...
But today the latest IL62 M are made for 3 flying crew. The rest are mechanics and load masters sitting in the back.