KARACHI: The wreckage of a K2 Airways cargo aircraft that went missing while flying from Sharjah to Karachi has been found in the Arabian Sea, while search operations are continuing for all five missing crew members.
The Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) located the wreckage during a search operation that lasted for more than 12 hours. According to officials, the wreckage was found 53 nautical miles south of the Ormara coast. All five crew members remain missing, and efforts to locate them are ongoing.
The discovery marks a major breakthrough in the search for the missing cargo aircraft. The Pakistan Navy and PMSA successfully traced the wreckage after an extensive rescue operation involving modern naval vessels.
Officials said that following the discovery of the wreckage, the scope of the rescue operation has been expanded. Rescue teams are now focused on locating the missing crew members and collecting further evidence from the crash site. Authorities described the operation as highly sensitive, with the primary focus on recovering the crew.
The K2 Airways cargo aircraft, which was transporting cargo from Sharjah to Karachi, crashed into the sea near Karachi, leaving all five crew members missing.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and aviation sources, the Boeing 737 was en route to Karachi with cargo from Sharjah when communication with the aircraft was suddenly lost during the night.
Authorities have confirmed that all five crew members on board the aircraft are Pakistani nationals.
Aviation officials said the K2 Airways flight reported a navigation system malfunction at 9:18 p.m. while en route to Karachi. Following the report, Karachi Air Traffic Control immediately began assisting the pilot.
However, just three minutes later, at 9:21 p.m., the aircraft was observed on radar descending rapidly while also making a sharp change in direction. Moments later, radar contact with the aircraft was completely lost over the Arabian Sea, approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.
Immediately after the aircraft went missing, the Pakistan Aviation Authority (PAA) activated its emergency response centre and, with the assistance of multiple agencies, launched a large-scale search and rescue operation in the Arabian Sea. Initial reports indicated that the aircraft had been flying over the sea near Ormara when it disappeared.
The Civil Aviation Authority has identified all five missing Pakistani crew members. According to officials, they are Captain Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, Flight Engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and Loadmaster Muhammad Toufeeq Khan.
