EasyJet plane seconds away from disaster after being incredibly close to hitting mountain

An easyJet flight from Manchester to Egypt came close to disaster as the plane got close enough to a mountain to trigger the aircraft's Ground Proximity Warning System.

The Sun reports that on 2 February the passengers of Flight EZY2251 were unaware of how close they came to hitting a mountain, and that the plane's captain was grounded after he reported the incident.

The plane, an Airbus A320, had been travelling to Egypt's Hurghada international airport when the warning system sounded to let the pilots know they were too close to the ground.

While the aircraft was successfully levelled out after the pilots responded to the warning, The Sun reports that a review of the incident found that the passenger plane had come within 235 metres of the mountain.

Planes are supposed to clear the terrain by about 2,000 metres, so this passenger flight would have been very close for comfort.

The plane was an easyJet Airbus A320 (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Sun also claims that 'sources' have told them that the easyJet flight had been descending at the 'ridiculously unsafe' rate of around 1,500 metres a minute.

The incident was reported the following day by Captain Paul Elsworth, who had been set to fly again on 3 February but was instead stood down and flown back as a passenger.

According to The Sun, their source told them: "Within moments of the flight drama being raised, officials stepped in and Paul Elsworth was forbidden from piloting the plane. Another flight crew brought the jet home.

“The pilot will be asked detailed questions. The GPWS only sounds when a plane is heading into terrain - in this instance a mountain.

"Passengers onboard are understood to have been oblivious to the scare, and unaware of just how close they came to the mountain range as the plane descended into Egypt."

The pilot reported the incident the day afterwards and was stood down, an investigation is ongoing (Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

easyJet told LADbible in a statement: "Safety is the number one priority for all our pilots, they are trained to the highest industry standards, subject to rigorous testing and monitored closely.

"The flight landed normally and as we have an ongoing investigation, the pilot remains stood down from duty in line with procedures."

Quite understandably, planes and mountains do not mix very well at all and there are some more mountainous parts of the world where it is generally inadvisable to fly aircraft.

While many planes can easily handle altitudes far above that of the likes of Mount Everest, the thin air makes it difficult for planes if they get into trouble.