K2 Airways Boeing 737 Disappears Off Pakistan Coast
Synopsis
The aircraft, carrying five crew members, lost contact with air traffic control after departing Sharjah, with authorities launching an urgent search and rescue operation.
Key Highlights
- K2 Airways Boeing 737 disappeared in Pakistan after contact was lost while performing a cargo flight from Sharjah to Karachi.
- On May 19, the aircraft disappeared with five crew members aboard while over the Arabian Sea.
- A large air and sea search operation has been initiated by Pakistan’s Rescue Coordination Centre
K2 Airways Flight 1732: Boeing 737 disappears over Arabian Sea with five crew on board. Pakistan Airports Authority said the cargo plane alerted a navigation system issue at 9:18 p.m. local time and radar and radio contact was lost around 9:21 p.m., about 155 nautical miles (287 kilometres) west of Karachi. So far, there has been no sign of the wreckage.
The plane, a Boeing 737 cargo aircraft operating as the K2 Airways missing plane, was en route to Karachi from Sharjah before it plunged off-course out of radar contact, Pakistan Airports Authority said. The regulator also said that the last ADS-B data on the aeroplane showed a sudden loss of altitude and speed before communication was lost.
Arabian Sea Search Operation In Progress
It immediately triggered a search by the Pakistan Rescue Coordination Centre after losing contact with the aircraft. Pakistani Airports Authority states that search and rescue operations are being carried out in the Arabian Sea
Some Pakistan Air Force and other national assets have been deployed to carry out search operations, including the PN frigate PNS Zulfiqar, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters of Pakistan Navy, one AT 72 ATR aircraft from Turbat of PN and one vessel of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation.
Cause of Disappearance Unknown
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed concern over the incident and said that the cause of the Karachi cargo plane missing was yet to be ascertained.
Local aviation expert Imran Aslam told ARY News that, even when an aircraft experiences engine failure it continues to glide and does not fall as abruptly as the recent incident. K2 Airways, a private cargo carrier based in Karachi established in May 2018, is the source of information displayed on their website.
The incident comes six years after 98 people were killed when a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane crashed on landing near Karachi in May 2020, with investigators later finding the disaster to be due to human error by flight crew and air traffic control.
Source: The West
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