A Pakistan-registered Boeing 737 cargo aircraft carrying five crew members disappeared on Tuesday night after reporting a navigational system problem while flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi, prompting a major search and rescue operation.
Pakistan aviation authorities said the cargo plane, operated by K2 Airways, lost contact with air traffic control shortly after reporting difficulties with its navigation systems.
According to the Pakistan Airports Authority, the aircraft reported a navigational issue at 9:18 p.m. local time while approaching Karachi. Air traffic controllers attempted to assist the crew, but contact was lost just three minutes later after radar indicated the aircraft was descending rapidly.
At the time communication was lost, the aircraft was about 155 nautical miles (287 kilometres) west of Karachi over the Arabian Sea.
Authorities have launched a coordinated search operation involving multiple agencies to locate the missing aircraft and determine its fate.
Early flight-tracking data suggested the aircraft may have crashed into the sea southwest of Karachi. Data from Flightradar24 showed the plane experienced a series of dramatic altitude changes during its final minutes before a steep descent.
Tracking information indicated the aircraft lost around 5,000 feet in less than a minute before climbing approximately 6,000 feet within 30 seconds. The flight then entered a sharp descent from an altitude of 36,550 feet.
The last recorded data point showed the aircraft at about 1,100 feet above sea level with a descent rate of 22,400 feet per minute, an unusually steep rate that aviation experts described as highly abnormal.
“Anytime you see something extreme like that, it catches your eye, but it is too soon to say what any of it means without more information,” aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse said.
Local media reported that the aircraft disappeared while flying over the Arabian Sea near Ormara in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province.
The missing aircraft was a Boeing 737-400 freighter, part of Boeing's long-running 737 family. Originally delivered to Russia's Aeroflot as a passenger aircraft in 1999, it was converted into a cargo plane in 2012, according to Flightradar24 data.
The aircraft entered service with K2 Airways in 2024 and is the airline's only aircraft.
Neither K2 Airways nor Boeing immediately commented on the incident.
If the aircraft is confirmed to have crashed with loss of life, it would mark Pakistan's first fatal aviation accident since 2020, when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 crashed near Karachi, killing 97 people. Investigators later concluded that pilot error contributed to the disaster.
Search efforts were continuing on Wednesday as authorities worked to locate the missing aircraft and the five people on board.
Europe will send a team of diplomats to Ukraine peace talks rather than a single envoy, EU leaders agreed on Friday at the end of a summit in Dubli...
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched its latest Starship flight into orbit, but failed to recover the rocket’s giant booster. ...
As Central Asia expands its hydropower infrastructure and high-rise construction, seismologists are examining whether large mountain reservoirs cou...
European leaders gathered in Dublin on Thursday, 12 November, for the ninth European Political Community (EPC) summit, with security, defence and energy high on the agenda. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks focused on peace, trade and regional cooperation.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is stepping down amid reports linking him to a woman suspected by U.S. authorities of spying for China, throwing the future of the $4 trillion chipmaker into uncertainty.
Kazakhstan’s security service has arrested Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on suspicion of corruption. Yelzhas Otynshiyev, Chairman of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway firm has also been detained.
Eight people have been killed and at least 17 injured after an apartment building collapsed into a neighbouring construction site in Brooklyn, New York, as rescuers continued searching the rubble for possible survivors.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts has backed withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and overhauling the country’s defence doctrine, calling both steps essential to national security and deterrence.
Europe will send a team of diplomats to Ukraine peace talks rather than a single envoy, EU leaders agreed on Friday at the end of a summit in Dublin.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched its latest Starship flight into orbit, but failed to recover the rocket’s giant booster. The 15th test flight lifted off from Starbase in the U.S. state of Texas on Friday (13 November).
More than 30 people have been taken to hospital after a cargo ship collided with a passenger cruise docked on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday (13 November).
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday (13 November) after a communications failure at air traffic control centres caused chaos at airports and triggered the longest nationwide shutdown since the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
The son of former CIA Director John Brennan has been charged with “transportation of child pornography”, according to court documents and a U.S. law enforcement official.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment