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Accidents · NTSB DCA98WA005 · Preliminary: the investigation is not finished

Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11 accident near Montevideo, Uy, October 24, 1997

On October 24, 1997, a Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11, registered N275WA, was substantially damaged in an accident near Montevideo. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). The NTSB record does not give the injuries. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.

The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged

The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.

Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.

What the record shows

Date
October 24, 1997
Place
Montevideo, Uruguay
Type
Accident
Injuries
The NTSB record does not give the injuries.
Weather
conditions the NTSB did not record
Aircraft
Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11 · all MD-11s on the register
Registration
N275WA · registry record
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)

The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English

The aircraft

  • Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
  • Landing gear: fixed
  • Not recorded

The flight

  • Departed from: Miami FL
  • Flight plan: not recorded
  • Runway 0

Weather at the time

  • Light: not reported
  • Sky: not recorded; not recorded
  • Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)

Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report

The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.

Other NTSB records under N275WA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time

2004-10-09ANC05IA002 · incident near Anchorage, AK · minor damage · no injuries

Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.