Families of Crew Aboard Crashed Cargo Plane Face Agonizing Wait

The families of five crew members aboard a K2 Airways cargo plane are enduring an agonizing wait for news following the aircraft's crash into the Arabian Sea. The co-pilot, Faisal Jatoi, was among those missing after the Boeing 737 freighter disappeared Tuesday night.

The plane was flying from Sharjah in the UAE to Karachi when it crashed off Pakistan's southern coast. Rescuers located wreckage during a deep-sea search operation on Wednesday. Jatoi's father-in-law, Ghulam Nabi Bahrani, described the family's distress upon learning of the crash via a Google search after being unable to contact Jatoi. "That moment felt like doomsday for us," Bahrani told Reuters from his home in Karachi. Jatoi is survived by his wife and a two-year-old son.

The aircraft, a 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 converted freighter, had been in Sharjah for 10 days undergoing repairs. It was awaiting a spare part from the United States before the crew could return. The Pakistan Airports Authority reported a navigational problem at 9:18 pm, while Flightradar24 data indicated erratic altitude changes before a steep descent. Wreckage was found 53 nautical miles south of Ormara port, prompting navy and maritime security teams to search for the flight recorders.

An aviation expert, speaking anonymously, described the recovery effort as potentially one of the most difficult in Pakistan's recent history. The water depth in the search area ranges from 2,500 to over 3,500 meters. Factors such as strong currents, poor visibility, an uneven seabed, and changing sea states are expected to significantly complicate the recovery of submerged wreckage and flight recorders.

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That moment felt like doomsday for us.