An American Airlines plane almost slammed into a literal mountain because the pilot just, like, wasn’t paying attention

Flying airplanes is an incredibly complex activity that requires an equal amount of experience and focus, because one small mistake and it’s headlines throughout the world over with families mourning. That was almost the case with a recent American Airlines flight departing from Honolulu.

As of this particular moment, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) says that they prevented American Flight 298, which was heading to Los Angeles, from flying into the terrain of mountains near Honolulu International Airport. The American Airlines flight took off from the rarely used 8L runway and, instead of making an assigned right turn, the crew decided to go straight ahead, towards the hazardous terrain. That’s when the air traffic controller instructed the crew to make an expedited climb to clear the mountains, a move that the FAA says ensured the flight safely avoided disaster.

However CNN reported that, in an official statement, American Airlines informed the press that there were no issues with terrain clearance during the flight. They explained that if there had been, the flight’s Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) would have alerted the crew, which it did not. Flightradar24 ADS-B data supports their claim, showing that the flight was already above the terrain by the time air traffic control issued the instructions.

The good news is that the flight landed in Los Angeles five hours after departure, as scheduled. But words cannot describe how scary that situation must have been for the passengers. One described the experience by saying that when the flight was above the terrain, you could definitely tell the crew had the airplane at 100%, trying to avoid it. Talk about eerie. It’s like that Denzel Washington movie Flight all over again but this time much more scary because this is actual real life. It’s quite surprising that this could have gotten past the crew.

When you get on a plane, the first thing you hope for is for the flight to be as boring as humanly possible. And when that doesn’t happen, people usually expect someone to be held accountable. X users familiar with the matter have already taken to criticizing the crew, with one theorizing that it’s obviously a mistake on the crew’s part.

As for the FAA, the back-and-forth statements are not enough for them. They’ve informed the press that they will investigate the matter further before coming back with a detailed explanation and path forward. Hopefully, if someone in the crew actually made a mistake and put people’s lives on the line, they will be identified and reprimanded for such a gross negligence of their duties.

Ultimately, the buck is expected to stop with American Airlines. The airline has responded to the situation by saying that their customers’ safety remains their top priority. We hope they also conduct an internal investigation and get back to the public with a detailed explanation of why their crew ignored the customary turn and almost collided with the mountain terrain.

This story is still developing, and we’ll update you with more information as it continues trickling in.