Had Diverted Around Weather On Flight To Douala, Cameroon

An Air France 777 with 37 people on board narrowly avoided impacting one of Africa's tallest volcanoes on a flight earlier this month after diverting around weather on its route of flight.

The plane was traveling from Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to Douala, Cameroon’s largest city on May 2 when the incident occurred. The French news service AFP reports that an investigator for BEA, the French accident investigation board, said that the diversion put the plane on a course to impact Mount Cameroon, a 12,255-foot-tall volcano. An automated terrain avoidance warning in the cockpit notified the crew to "pull up" to avoid impacting the volcano. The crew responded immediately to the ground proximity warning and took the plane to a safe altitude, according to a statement from Air France.

The airline said in the statement that it would conduct an internal investigation into the incident, but that “a route to avoid a storm brought the plane toward the side of Mount Cameroon.” 

The flight continued normally and landed safely.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.bea.aero/en