My question as an outsider - how in the world did this airplane not climb over this relatively small ridge? He must have been light on fuel so a rapid climb is within the capability of the airplane - the weather was cloudy and rainy but by no means was the ridge completely obscured - the local visibility was excellent shortly after the crash, and we can assume that no fog banks were suddenly erased between the time of the news coverage and the incident. Is there some aspect of the FMC that inhibits rapid climb? One witness inside the park said the plane was "unbalanced", by which one may possibly infer that the plane was near stalling while attempting to climb over the ridge (he ALMOST made it
)
-drl