Chingis Yunusogly Rzayev was born in 1941 in Irkutsk, within the Soviet Union. No verified public information is available regarding his early life, education, employment, or family background based on the supplied material. There are no records in the provided sources indicating prior criminal convictions or known extremist affiliations before the events of May 1973.

Rzayev’s background remained largely unknown until the post‑incident forensic investigation identified him as the individual responsible for the hijacking and bombing of Aeroflot Flight 109.

On 18 May 1973, Chingis Yunusogly Rzayev carried out a terrorist hijacking aboard Aeroflot Flight 109, a scheduled domestic passenger flight traveling from Moscow to Chita with stopovers in Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk. The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu‑104A registered CCCP‑42379.

The flight departed Irkutsk Airport at 03:02 Moscow time, en route to Chita, cruising at an altitude of approximately 9,000 metres. At 03:36, the flight crew transmitted repeated danger signals to air traffic control, reporting that a passenger was demanding a change in the aircraft’s course. Communication became increasingly fragmented as the situation escalated.

At approximately 03:38, an onboard security officer, 21‑year‑old Vladimir Yezhikov, attempted to stop the hijacker as Rzayev tried to force his way into the cockpit. Yezhikov shot Rzayev twice in the back. One bullet penetrated the chest through the eighth intercostal space and reached the heart.

While critically wounded, Rzayev activated an explosive device he was carrying. The bomb, later determined to contain approximately 5.5 to 6 kilograms of TNT, detonated inside the aircraft. The explosion caused rapid decompression and structural failure, resulting in the aircraft breaking apart in mid‑air.

Radar contact was lost shortly thereafter. The wreckage was discovered hours later by a Mi‑8 helicopter approximately 97 kilometres west of Chita Airport, scattered across an area more than 10 kilometres wide. All 72 passengers and 9 crew members were killed. There were no survivors.

The official investigation concluded that the cause of the crash was the deliberate detonation of an explosive device by Rzayev during an attempted hijacking. Chingis Yunusogly Rzayev died on 18 May 1973 as a direct result of gunshot wounds and the subsequent explosion.