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.
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