A search is underway after a Boeing 737 cargo plane carrying five crew members went missing off the coast of Karachi and lost contact with air traffic control on Tuesday night, Pakistan aviation authorities said.
The K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo plane was headed from Sharjah International Airport within the United Arab Emirates to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, when it reported a navigational system issue and was promptly guided by Karachi Area Control Center, in line with an announcement from the Pakistan Airports Authority.
The aircraft was observed on radar rapidly descending with a rapid heading change before radar and communication were lost west of Karachi, the statement added.
“Following the occurrence, the Rescue Coordination Centre was activated and a coordinated Search & Rescue operation at sea was launched through various agencies to locate the missing aircraft,” the Pakistan Airports Authority said.
In an announcement on Wednesday, K2 Airways identified the five crew members on board the Boeing 737 cargo plane and said it was “fully cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies.”
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“We proceed to wish, earnestly, for the security of our colleagues,” the statement said.
The five crew members onboard the aircraft are Captain Muhammad Rizwan, first officer Faisal Mahmood, loadmaster Muhammad Toufiq Khan, engineer Arif Siddiqui and Muhammad Hamid.
There was no official confirmation of the aircraft’s fate.
Flightradar24 data indicates a lack of altitude, followed by a climb, after which a second, sudden lack of altitude.
The ultimate received data point from the aircraft was about 1,100 feet in altitude, descending at 22,400 feet per minute, in line with the info.
Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local ARY News that it stays unclear what caused the aircraft to vanish from radar. He said that even when an aircraft suffers an engine failure, it might normally proceed gliding reasonably than plunge suddenly.
“I still cannot understand how the plane went down so abruptly as a substitute of gliding,” he said.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep grief” and “heartfelt sympathy” to the families of the five crew members on board the plane in an announcement on Wednesday.
The last major aviation incident in Pakistan involved a domestic passenger flight in 2020.
The Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 98 people crashed right into a densely populated neighbourhood near Karachi airport while attempting to land. All but one in every of the 99 people on board were killed, in line with The Associated Press.
A government investigation later concluded that human error by the pilots and air traffic controllers caused the crash.
— with files from The Associated Press
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