Air France pilots almost crashed into a volcano and are now receiving 'pedagogical, managerial, and medical support'

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Air France Boeing 777-200ER

Flickr/Aero Icarus

Air France Boeing 777

Last month, an Air France Boeing 777 airliner nearly collided with the side of an active Volcano in Africa.

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According to Reuters, France's BEA air accident agency reported that the jet narrowly avoided a collision with Mount Cameroon near the Cameroonian capital of Douala on May 2.

"The Boeing 777-200 F-GSPG was flying at cruising altitude between Malabo and Douala in stormy conditions," the airline said in a statement. "The route they took to avoid the storm took their trajectory close to Mount Cameroon."

According to CNN, the Air France jet was flying at 9,000 ft. when the Boeing 777's ground proximity warning system triggered an alarm alerting the pilots that they could crash into something.

The pilots responded to the warning, climbed to 13,000 ft., and cleared the volcano. According to the airline, its pilots frequently train for such situations and reacted appropriately to the conditions.

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However, Air France has instituted "several precautionary measures," pending the outcome of an internal investigation, including assigning "the crew of the flight to pedagogical, managerial and medical support."

The flight began its journey on the island of Equatorial Guinea and was scheduled to stop in Douala to pick up passengers before heading on to Paris.

At the time of the incident, the airliner with 36 passengers and crew on board was headed for a landing at Douala International Airport.

Mount Cameroon is one of the highest points in sub-Saharan Africa and measures 13,400 ft. tall at its highest point. It's located about 50 miles northwest of Douala.

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