What happened
On a scheduled cargo mission for DHL, an aircraft departed runway 24 at Montevideo-Carrasco Airport at 19:45 local time, bound for Buenos Aires. After being cleared to climb to FL080, the aircraft reached an altitude of approximately 4,500 feet when it entered an uncontrolled descent. The aircraft struck the ocean surface near Flores Island at a speed of 570 knots, resulting in its disintegration.
Search efforts initially yielded limited debris floating on the water the day after the accident. Two weeks later, the primary wreckage was located roughly one nautical mile south of Flores Island. While the cockpit voice recorder was recovered on August 2, 2012, investigators were unable to retrieve useful data because the recording only covered the final 30 minutes of the previous flight. In February 2013, a cargo door was discovered by fishermen, but no trace of the crew or the onboard cargo was ever recovered.
Findings
Post-accident investigations confirmed that the engines were functioning normally at the time of impact and that there were no issues with the electrical system, fuel quality, or propeller blades. However, meteorological data indicated that severe icing conditions were present between FL010 and FL015 during the flight. Investigators concluded that the formation of crystalline ice on the airframe likely caused erroneous flight instrument readings, leading to a loss of situational awareness for the crew.