The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) confirmed on Wednesday that the wreckage of a missing Boeing 737 cargo plane has been located in the Arabian Sea. The aircraft, operated by K2 Airways, was carrying five crew members when it went missing on Tuesday evening while approaching Karachi from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Plane Lost Contact After Reporting Navigational Issue
According to the PAA, radar showed the plane "rapidly descending" at 21:21 local time on Tuesday after the pilot reported a "navigational system issue." Communication was lost approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi. Flight-tracking service Flightradar24.com reported that preliminary data indicated a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden and dramatic loss of altitude.
After a 12-hour search involving the Pakistan Navy and maritime rescue agency, the wreckage was found off the coast of Ormara, a town on Pakistan's southern coast. The PAA posted on X that they "successfully located and identified wreckage of K2 Airways cargo B737 which was declared missing last night." Images released by the authority showed personnel recovering pieces of the red and white fuselage from a small boat onto a larger vessel, with debris bearing the words "K2 Air" laid out on the ship's deck.
Search for Crew Members Underway
The PAA stated that efforts are ongoing to locate the five missing crew members. Before the wreckage was found, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed "deep sorrow, grief and regret over the tragic incident in which a private cargo aircraft … crashed into the Arabian Sea and went missing." A source told AFP that navy and merchant vessels, supported by military aircraft, were participating in the search.
Aircraft and Airline Background
K2 Airways is a private cargo airline in Pakistan that operates scheduled and charter flights domestically and internationally. According to Airfleets.net, the aircraft was manufactured in 1999 and initially served as a passenger plane for Aeroflot and Garuda Indonesia before being converted to a cargo configuration in 2012.
Pakistan's aviation sector has experienced several deadly plane crashes over the past decade, including a major incident in Karachi. The European Union had barred Pakistan's national carrier from its airspace for four years due to safety and licensing concerns, but the ban was lifted in 2024.
