I am not a commercial airline pilot but it is a topic of fascination for me for a long time - wouldn't this cause a terrain warning? How were the pilots unaware until ATC told them? Something very strange about this story - I guess fatigue makes sense, but that doesn't explain rerouting to fort lauderdale very well to me.

I'll toss out a theory - there has been a pilot shortage for the last several years. Are corners getting cut on pilot training? Incompetence explains a lot. This is a really baffling incident to me on its face and reading some takes from aviation experts it seems like I am not the only one that thinks so.