The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Accidents · NTSB DCA99WA036 · Preliminary: the investigation is not finished

Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11 incident near Shanghai, Ch, December 25, 1998

On December 25, 1998, a Mcdonnell Douglas MD-11, registered B2174, was substantially damaged in an incident near Shanghai. 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 incident. 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
December 25, 1998
Place
Shanghai, Switzerland
Type
Incident
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
B2174 · no longer on the register
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
  • Operator: China Eastern Airlines

The flight

  • Departed from: Narita Japan OF
  • 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.

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.