Search continues after Boeing 737 cargo plane goes missing off Pakistan coast – National
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 controllers on Tuesday night, Pakistan’s aviation authorities said.
The K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo plane was departing from Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates and heading to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, when it reported an issue with the navigation system and was immediately directed by the Karachi Area Control Center, according to a statement by the Pakistan Airports Authority.
The aircraft was spotted on radar descending rapidly with rapid change before radar and contact were lost west of Karachi, the statement said.
“Following the incident, the Rescue Coordination Center was activated and a coordinated maritime Search and Rescue operation was launched by various agencies to locate the missing aircraft,” Pakistan Airports Authority said.
In a statement on Wednesday, K2 Airways identified the five members of 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 continue to pray for the safety of our colleagues,” the statement said.
The five crew members on board the flight are Captain Muhammad Rizwan, First Officer Faisal Mahmood, load handler Muhammad Toufiq Khan, engineer Arif Siddiqui and Muhammad Hamid.
There has never been an official confirmation about the fate of this plane.
Flightradar24 data shows a drop in altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden drop in altitude.
The last data point received from the plane was about 1,100 meters high, descending at 22,400 meters per minute, according to the data.
Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local ARY News that it is still unclear what caused the plane to disappear from radar. He said that even if the plane is malfunctioning, it will usually continue to dive rather than suddenly dive.
“I still don’t understand how the plane went down so quickly instead of diving,” he said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep sorrow” and “heartfelt sympathy” to the families of the five crew members on board the plane in a statement on Wednesday.
The last major aviation incident in Pakistan involved a domestic passenger flight in 2020.
A Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 98 people crashed in a crowded area near Karachi airport while trying to land. All but one of the 99 people on board were killed, according to the Associated Press.
A government investigation later concluded that human error by the pilots and air traffic controllers was responsible for the crash.
— via files from The Associated Press
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