Never should have happened, especially with an experienced crew and two IPs. Half of the photos I see are of Mike model 60s, but haven't seen it written if it actually was. If they were in the Mike model UH-60 there are terrain avoidance maps that clearly display what terrain is above, about the same, or below you. Bad decision making by the crew to push it that far to go IIMC instead of popping up early for an instrument approach back to Gowen. And did they properly execute the IIMC plan? Initiate a climb, turn away from known obstacles... Or why not use the Mike's features to hover in place and climb vertically if you have to, the instrumentation will allow you to do that, even in 0-0 visibility. Or have the autopilot do it for you.
That's if they were in the Mike... If they were in an Alpha or Lima, most of that doesn't apply and situational awareness sucks in comparison. As for flying above the mountains, they easily could have once weather became an issue. I've flown above 12,000 feet with a decent load in Afghanistan to cross mountain ranges and they were virtually empty with power for days.
