A Pakistan-registered K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo aircraft travelling from Sharjah to Karachi has crashed into the Arabian Sea near Ormara after suffering a navigation system malfunction, while search and rescue operations remain under way, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Wednesday.
According to officials, the aircraft encountered a technical fault in its navigation system before the accident.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority said radar contact with the cargo aircraft was lost approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.
Before communication was severed, the Karachi Area Control Centre provided immediate navigational assistance to the crew.
The aircraft was being flown by Captain Muhammad Rizwan Idris and First Officer Faisal Jatoi.
The remaining crew members on board were engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and loadmaster Muhammad Taufiq Khan.
Authorities confirmed that all five crew members are Pakistani nationals.
Sources said the Pakistan Navy has deployed warships PNS Zulfiquar and PNS Haneen to the area as part of the ongoing search and rescue operation.
A Pakistan Navy ATR aircraft has also joined the mission after taking off from Turbat to assist in locating the aircraft.
The 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Tuesday night that the cargo flight was travelling from Sharjah to Karachi when the crew informed Air Traffic Control at 9:18pm Pakistan Standard Time (PST) that the aircraft was experiencing a navigation system problem.
According to the report, the Karachi Area Control Centre immediately provided navigational guidance to the crew. However, at 9:21pm, air traffic controllers observed the aircraft making a rapid descent and a sudden change in direction on radar.
Moments later, both radar and radio contact were lost approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.
Following the incident, the Rescue Coordination Centre launched a large-scale search and rescue operation in the Arabian Sea in coordination with several national agencies.
Officials said efforts to locate the aircraft and its crew are continuing, and further information will be released as it becomes available.
K2 Airways confirms details of missing cargo aircraft and crew
K2 Airways management has issued a statement regarding the missing cargo craft on Wednesday.
According to the company statement, the K2 Air Cargo Boeing aircraft was en route from Sharjah to Karachi.
The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control at 9:21 pm last night.
The registration number of the Boeing 737 aircraft is AP-BOI.
There were five members on board the aircraft, including Pilot Muhammad Rizwan Idrees, First Officer Faisal Mahmood, Load Master Muhammad Tawfiq Khan, and Engineers Arif Siddiqui and Muhammad Hamid.
Search and rescue operations are underway by the relevant agencies.
K2 Airways continued to fully cooperate with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies.
Pakistan searches for Boeing cargo plane that PM says crashed into sea
According to AFP, Pakistan searched on Wednesday for a Boeing cargo plane that went missing off the country's southern coast, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying the aircraft had crashed into the Arabian Sea with five people on board.
The aircraft was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it "rapidly descending" Tuesday evening after reporting a "navigational system issue", the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said in a post on X.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed "deep sorrow, grief, and regret over the tragic incident in which a private cargo aircraft (K2 Airways) flying from Sharjah to Karachi crashed into the Arabian Sea and went missing", according to a statement from his office.
He offered condolences to the families of the five crew members on board and directed Pakistan civil aviation authorities, the navy and the airforce to intensify search and rescue operations and use all available resources.
A source familiar with the matter told AFP that both navy and merchant vessels were taking part in the efforts to locate the missing plane, supported by military aircraft.
At 21:21 pm (1621 GMT) Pakistan time, the aircraft was observed on radar "rapidly descending and with rapid heading change" and communication contact was lost about 155 nautical miles west of Karachi, the PAA said.
Preliminary data sent from the plane "indicated a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden and dramatic loss of altitude", according to Flightradar24.com, a global flight-tracking service.
K2 Airways is a private cargo airline in Pakistan that operates scheduled and charter flights domestically and internationally.
Manufactured in 1999, the plane flew as a passenger plane for Aeroflot and Garuda Indonesia before being converted to a cargo configuration in 2012, according to Airfleets.net.
Pakistan aviation has a chequered history with several major deadly plane crashes in the past decade, including in the southern city of Karachi.
The European Union barred Pakistan's national carrier from its airspace for four years over safety and licensing concerns, but lifted the ban in 2024.