Originally Posted by
Heathrow Harry
he could probably see the mountain out of one window and thought he was in over flat land to the north - couldn't see the other ridge coming up fast on the other side..........
But there shouldn't have been any mountain to any side of the aircraft if they had just made the mentioned reciprocating error.
They would have been North of the mountain range all the time. In that scenario any green solid mass of terra firma reaching up to their flight level, be it to the left or to the right, should have initiated instant concern - and action.
As they were released to FL60 and hit the mountain at ~FL62 I see no indication for a vigorous attempt to climb until maybe the last 5 or 10 seconds.