Cargo plane disappears from radar over Arabian Sea off Karachi

A K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft vanished from radar over the Arabian Sea on Tuesday while on a flight from Sharjah to Karachi. The plane lost contact about 300 kilometers west of the Pakistani coast as it approached Pakistani airspace.

During the flight, the pilot reported a navigation problem and requested assistance from the area control center. The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) stated that the flight reported a navigational system issue at 9:18 pm and was guided by the Karachi Area Control Centre. However, at 9:21 pm, the aircraft was observed on radar to be rapidly descending and making a sharp change in heading.

Radar contact and communication were lost approximately 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers) west of Karachi. Following the incident, the Rescue Coordination Centre was activated, and a coordinated sea search and rescue operation involving multiple agencies was initiated to locate the missing aircraft.

There were five crew members on board the flight. The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation is set to investigate the cause of the crash.