scenic gone bad
looking at Benrd's videos, I cannot understand why they would have flown up that valley.
Well, I can, but only for one reason: give the pax a very cool scenic flight. At the top of the valley, with a rather steep climb and, it would seem, narrow turn to the right that would have to be followed by a rather steep turn to the left in order to avoid the ridge on the other side, they just ran out of speed, altitude (read: ground clearance) and good ideas. This looks a lot like a canyon run that a fighter pilot would do, having a much better thrust to weight ratio than a commuter jet.
I'd be most happy to stand corrected, but at this time, I suspect it's the old "hazardous attitude" thing that killed those onboard.
sais someone who doesn't think in "thrust to weight" but in "lift over drag" ratios.