[aaronmdjones]

I can forgive the pilots for not knowing that ATC is getting altitude information from the plane. They're not air traffic controllers after all, and the training back then was a lot less thorough than it is today.

What's more alarming is that they had a perfectly functional radar altimeter and ought to have known that this is a completely self-contained system; it doesn't depend on the flight computers, the pitot-static system, or any external information such as your current position or a programmed flight plan. If it's telling you that you're only a couple thousand feet above terrain, you really should listen to it and respond accordingly.

Neither of the pilots did.

EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIz6vODilro