That proposed flight path a few posts ago is very interesting... I think wondering about the cloud cover could become a valid point here...assuming they were circling the mountain, I can't help but think perhaps they turned too soon, thinking they were heading for the clear area to the south...
Is it possible the combination of obscuring cloud cover and perhaps unfamiliarity with the local area conspire against them and they got caught in a box area of rising terrain when they perhaps thought they were heading for the clear? They would more than likely have had precious little time to react to the rising terrain...
All pure and utter speculation from me here, and I most certainly do not profess otherwise..but while I was looking at the photo with the proposed flight paths, I just couldn't help but think they may have thought they had circled the mountain when in fact they were only half way around...
Just a thought from a first time poster...