i was flying a night approach to SFO with about 2 miles visibility. i had the descent rate set at -1800 ft/min becuase i assumed thats the standard for a 747-400. around 3000 FT i crossed over the Pacific coast of cali...(where there is a mtn. range along the coast) few seconds later everything blacks out and all i see is the "CRASH" banner

. was it my error in the descent rate? or is it just ATC being unaware of the higher elevation..