The Captain of this ill fated aircraft was well airline experianced pilot and flown B747,A310's 737 and have more than 1000 hrs as a captain on this type( A321) and is well reputed. The First Officer was also serving the airline for last one and hlf years and have more then 300 hrs on the type and both of them have excellent flying record
Testimonials and flying records, unfortunately, don't count for much when you wander into the side of a mountain.
I think what most of the professional pilots who read this thread are trying to understand, is how this aircraft ended up at low level so far away from the airfield (and heading further away from it) when they were supposedly doing the equivalent of a tight visual circuit. They appear to have been attempting VFR flight in IMC and the usual outcome has prevailed... As soon as the airport disappeared from sight an immediate climbing turn towards the runway should have been started but why wasn't it?
Many points have been made about the serviceability of TAWS/EGPWS, map shift, etc. but what the crew attempted, circling off an ILS to the reciprocal runway, is a *purely visual manoeuvre*. No fancy gadgets necessary.
It appears to be a massive loss of SA, especially for pilots who were familiar with the terrain around the airfield. Where did they think they were, up to the last few seconds before impact and what were they trying to do before that? Will we ever know?