Narrative:

This northbound flight was routed on a less used route northeastward to avoid weather in northern colombia. The company utilized airway UG444 and included a high terrain decision point at 'peter plus 14 NM'. Prior to the point the instruction was to return along the center line of the route just flown; and after; continue along the route. Waypoint 'peter' is located within a couple of miles of the highest mountain peak in colombia; pico cristobal colon; at nearly 19;000 feet along a generally east/west mountain range. Fourteen miles north; the decision point; the elevation has dropped dramatically to the nearby caribbean sea. Therefore; an emergency course reversal from a northbound direction would be into rapidly rising terrain instead of descending terrain and the nearby caribbean coast. Day VMC conditions prevailed in this high terrain region so I observed that the sa HI1/2 chart depictions are consistent with the actual terrain and waypoint peter location. Dispatch was notified after arriving and I was informed that route would be locked out to prevent use and that an analysis would be made. Review the location of this decision point and why it is used on this route. If warranted by the findings; review other decision points that may also be in error for similar reason(s).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier flying North in Colombian airspace changed routes for weather avoidance and on UG444 discovered the mountain near Waypoint PETER is close to a 19;000 foot mountain. An emergency drift down with a course reversal in that area would be into raising terrain.

Narrative: This northbound flight was routed on a less used route northeastward to avoid weather in northern Colombia. The company utilized Airway UG444 and included a high terrain decision point at 'PETER plus 14 NM'. Prior to the point the instruction was to return along the center line of the route just flown; and after; continue along the route. Waypoint 'PETER' is located within a couple of miles of the highest mountain peak in Colombia; Pico Cristobal Colon; at nearly 19;000 feet along a generally east/west mountain range. Fourteen miles north; the decision point; the elevation has dropped dramatically to the nearby Caribbean Sea. Therefore; an emergency course reversal from a northbound direction would be into rapidly rising terrain instead of descending terrain and the nearby Caribbean coast. Day VMC conditions prevailed in this high terrain region so I observed that the SA HI1/2 Chart depictions are consistent with the actual terrain and waypoint PETER location. Dispatch was notified after arriving and I was informed that route would be locked out to prevent use and that an analysis would be made. Review the location of this decision point and why it is used on this route. If warranted by the findings; review other decision points that may also be in error for similar reason(s).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.