RetiredF4, a sobering thought and entirely reasonable.
Note that this particular mountain has the typical amphitheater-type caldera of a stratocone that has blown its top at some time in the past - e.g. Mt. St. Helens. Could they have misunderstood their aviation charts? Don't you guys carry topographic charts as well, as a matter of course?
It's possible that they misinterpreted the intersection of a low-hanging and thick cloud-deck, and the mountain flank, with the ridge line. They may have never seen or known what they hit.
Last edited by deSitter; 15th May 2012 at 14:43.