Pakistan missing plane highlights: Search intensifies for cargo aircraft that disappeared over Arabian sea near Karachi

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistani search teams on Wednesday continued to scour the Arabian Sea to locate a cargo plane that went missing while flying from Sharjah in the UAE to Karachi with five crew members on board a day earlier.

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said that the Boeing 737 cargo aircraft, operated by Karachi-based private airline K2 Airways, vanished from radar after it was seen descending rapidly and making a sudden change in direction during the flight.

It said that contact with the aircraft was lost at 09:21 pm (local time) on Tuesday, about 300 kilometres west of Karachi.

The aircraft went missing while flying reportedly at an altitude of 34,000 feet.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Navy and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to utilise all available resources in the search operation, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.

(PTI)

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistan’s Navy and civilian authorities on Wednesday expanded the search for a cargo plane feared to have crashed after it disappeared from radar and lost contact with air traffic control en route to the southern port city of Karachi.

Officials said the Karachi-bound aircraft, operated by the private carrier K2 Airways, reported a navigational system issue while flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates with five people on board. The search is still ongoing, according to three officials familiar with the rescue operation.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the possible crash.

They added that the vast search area in the Arabian Sea and rough monsoon seas were posing significant challenges to the search-and-rescue operation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sympathy with the families of the five crew members, according to a statement from his office, and directed the government to deploy all available resources for the search effort.

(AP)

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistani rescuers scoured the waters around the presumed crash site of a Boeing cargo plane on Wednesday, hours after it lost contact with air traffic control on its way to Karachi with five crew members on board, Pakistan authorities said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities to speed up search and rescue operations for the 27-year-old converted freighter, which went missing in the Arabian Sea after reporting a navigational system problem.

K2 Airways, the plane's operator, said the crew comprised two pilots, two engineers and one support staffer. Authorities have made no official declaration on their status, although Sharif expressed his "heartfelt condolences" to their families.

The plane may have crashed into the sea southwest of Karachi after a series of sharp altitude changes before a steep final descent, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

Authorities have launched a coordinated search and rescue operation at sea through various agencies, Pakistan Airports Authority said on Facebook. K2 Airways said it was cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies. Boeing has not yet commented.

The plane reported a navigational system issue at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time (1618 GMT) while flying towards Karachi, the airports authority said.

Local air traffic control tried to guide it but three minutes later radar systems showed the plane descending rapidly and communication was lost, the authority said. The flight was about 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi at the time, according to the statement.

(Reuters)

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistan’s Navy and civilian authorities on Wednesday expanded the search for a cargo plane feared to have crashed after it disappeared from radar and lost contact with air traffic control en route to the southern port city of Karachi.

Officials said the Karachi-bound aircraft, operated by the private carrier K2 Airways, reported a navigational system issue while flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates with five people on board. The search is still ongoing, according to three officials familiar with the rescue operation.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the possible crash.

They added that the vast search area in the Arabian Sea and rough monsoon seas were posing significant challenges to the search-and-rescue operation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sympathy with the families of the five crew members, according to a statement from his office, and directed the government to deploy all available resources for the search effort.

(AP)

Karachi missing plane LIVE: Pakistan has deployed the Navy and Air Force to search a Boeing cargo aircraft that disappeared from radar over the Arabian sea, about 300 kilometres west of Karachi, officials said Wednesday.

The K2 Airways B737 Pakistan Cargo flight en route from Sharjah, UAE, to Karachi that went off radar late on Tuesday evening after reporting a navigational system issue had five crew members onboard.

The Rescue Coordination Centre was activated and a coordinated Search and Rescue operation at sea was launched through various agencies to locate the missing aircraft, according to a statement by the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).

Geo News reported that the search for the cargo aircraft has widened significantly, with the Pakistan Navy and Air Force now deploying additional ships and aircraft to the search zone.

The Pakistan Navy has dispatched the warship PNS Zulfiqar to join the search and rescue effort, while a Pakistan Air Force Saab surveillance aircraft is also taking part in the operation, sources told Geo News.

A Navy ATR aircraft has flown out from Turbat to assist, joining the wider search from the air while PNS Hunain has also been dispatched to the affected area to take part in the search and rescue operation, sources said.

(PTI)

Karachi missing plane LIVE: A Pakistani cargo plane carrying five crew members disappeared from radar off the country's southern coast on Tuesday night, just three minutes after reporting a navigational system problem, triggering a major search-and-rescue operation.

The Boeing 737, operated by K2 Airways, was on the less-than-two-hour flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi when its crew reported the issue at 9:18 pm local time, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority.

Air traffic controllers in Karachi immediately provided navigational assistance.

However, three minutes later, the aircraft was seen descending rapidly and making a sharp change in heading before radar and radio contact were lost around 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistan's Navy and civilian authorities on Wednesday intensified search efforts for a cargo plane feared to have crashed after it disappeared from radar while flying to Karachi.

The Karachi-bound aircraft, operated by private carrier K2 Airways, was travelling from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates with five people on board when it reported a navigational system malfunction before losing contact with air traffic control, officials said.

The search operation remains underway, according to three officials familiar with the rescue efforts. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the incident.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistan has launched a large-scale search and rescue operation involving both military and civilian agencies after a cargo plane went missing off its coast.

Officials said the Pakistan Navy frigate PNS Zulfiqar was immediately diverted to the area where contact with the aircraft was lost. The Pakistan Air Force also deployed aircraft for the search, while a Pakistan Navy ATR aircraft took off from Turbat to support the operation.

In addition, a merchant vessel operated by the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation was dispatched to assist in the ongoing search efforts.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local Pakistan's ARY News that it remains unclear what caused the aircraft to disappear from radar.

He said that even if an aircraft suffers an engine failure, it would normally continue gliding rather than plunge suddenly.

“I still cannot understand how the plane went down so abruptly instead of gliding,” he told the news outlet.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: The cargo plane, which has five crew members on board, reported a navigation system problem minutes before its descent, the airport authority said.

According to preliminary data from Flightradar24, a flight-tracking platform, the plane recorded a sharp fluctuation in altitude before a steep descent.

The search and rescue operation to find the plane is underway.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local broadcaster ARY News that the cause of the aircraft's disappearance from radar remains unclear.

He noted that even in the event of an engine failure, an aircraft would typically glide for some distance rather than plunge abruptly.

"I still cannot understand how the plane went down so suddenly instead of gliding," Aslam said.

According to the K2 Airways website, the Karachi-based private cargo airline was established in May 2018.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistani authorities have launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation involving multiple agencies to locate the missing cargo plane, the Pakistan Airports Authority said in a Facebook post.

K2 Airways said it is fully cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies in the search efforts.

"We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues," the airline said in a statement posted on Facebook.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: The missing aircraft was a Boeing 737-400 freighter, part of Boeing's long-running 737 family and two generations older than the 737 MAX aircraft involved in recent safety crises. It was powered by CFM International engines, manufactured through a joint venture between GE Aerospace and France's Safran.

According to Flightradar24, the aircraft was first delivered as a passenger jet to Russia's Aeroflot in 1999 before being converted into a cargo aircraft in 2012.

The Boeing 737-400 was K2 Airways' only aircraft and entered service with the Pakistani carrier in 2024. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed it had not flown since June 28 before its final journey from Sharjah to Karachi.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: The K2 Airways cargo plane reported a navigational system issue at 9:18 pm Pakistan Standard Time (1618 GMT) while flying towards Karachi, the Pakistan Airports Authority said.

Air traffic controllers attempted to guide the aircraft, but radar showed it entering a rapid descent about three minutes later before communication was lost. At the time, the plane was around 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi, the authority said.

Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reportedly showed the aircraft's final moments were marked by erratic altitude changes.

The plane plunged nearly 5,000 feet in less than a minute, climbed about 6,000 feet within 30 seconds, and then entered a catastrophic dive from an altitude of 36,550 feet.

The last transmitted data point placed the aircraft at 1,100 feet above sea level with a vertical descent rate of minus 22,400 feet per minute - roughly 400 kmph - indicating an unusually steep and abnormal descent.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: Pakistan launched a search operation on Wednesday for a K2 Airways Boeing cargo plane that went missing off the coast of Karachi after radar data showed the aircraft was "rapidly descending," the Pakistan Airports Authority said in a post on X.

The aircraft, carrying five crew members, was en route from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi when it lost contact with air traffic control on Tuesday evening after reporting a navigational system issue.

K2 Airways plane missing LIVE: K2 Airways said it is fully cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies following the disappearance of its cargo aircraft.

(Reuters)