Pakistan locates wreckage of missing plane in Arabian Sea

Pakistani search and rescue teams on Wednesday located and identified the wreckage of a private cargo aircraft that went missing with five crew members on board a day earlier, officials said.

The Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) have successfully located and identified the wreckage of K2 Airways Cargo B737, which was declared missing last night, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said in a post on X. The wreckage was recovered from 53 NM South of ORMARA, it said, adding that efforts are underway to find the missing crew members.

The Boeing 737 cargo aircraft, operated by Karachi-based private airline K2 Airways, vanished from radar on Tuesday night after it was seen descending rapidly and making a sudden change in direction during the flight.

The PAA earlier 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. The aircraft was carrying five crew members — Captain Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Mahmood, Loadmaster Muhammad Taufiq Khan, Engineer Arif Siddiqui and Engineer Muhammad Hamid.

The aircraft reportedly had remained in Sharjah for about 10 days after developing a technical fault. The PAA earlier said that the cargo flight reported a navigational system issue at 09.18 pm (local time) on Tuesday and was promptly guided by Karachi Area Control Centre (ACC).

“However, at 09.22 pm (local time), the aircraft was observed on radar rapidly descending with a rapid heading change.

Subsequently, radar contact and communication were lost approximately 155 NM west of Karachi,” it said.