FRANCE – After narrowly missing flying directly into the side of Central Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Cameroon, French investigators have opened a probe into the incident and have released new details of the incident which took place on May 2nd, 2015.
The Boeing 777 was carrying only 37 total on board when it was cruising at approximately 9,000 feet. After departure from Malabo, the pilots decided to divert northbound to avoid storm clouds seemingly unaware of the terrain and Mt. Cameroon. The 777 was en route to Douala to pick up more passengers before continuing onto France.
A ground-proximity warning was triggered in the cockpit alerting the crew of impending doom and a collision with the mountain unless they took immediate action. Thankfully, the crew climbed directly and steeply to 13,000 feet to avoid the collision. Mt. Cameroon is 13,400 ft at it’s highest point and is also an active volcano.
Air France released a statement stating that the crew reacted exactly as their training taught them. However, they have been taken off flying duties to receive more training. Air France also issued new briefings regarding the terrain around the area where the incident occurred to their flight crews.
