Pakistani Cargo Plane with Five Crew Vanishes Off Coast

A cargo plane operated by Pakistan's K2 Airways, with five crew members on board, has vanished from radar screens while flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi, Pakistan. The Pakistan Airports Authority confirmed the disappearance, stating the aircraft was en route to Karachi when it reported a navigation system problem at 9:18 PM local time on Tuesday. The flight received assistance from the city's Area Control Center.

Three minutes later, at 9:21 PM, the plane was observed on radar descending rapidly and making a sharp change in direction. Contact and communications were lost approximately 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers) west of Karachi. Following the aircraft's disappearance, authorities activated the Rescue Coordination Center and launched a maritime search and rescue operation involving multiple agencies.

Specialized platform Flightradar24 identified the flight as KTA1732, operating a Boeing 737-400SF freighter with registration AP-BOI. Preliminary data from the platform indicated the aircraft experienced a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second sharp descent before contact was lost. The platform also noted that shortly after takeoff from Sharjah, the aircraft and others in the region experienced GNSS interference, which degraded some initial tracking data.

K2 Airways is a private airline based in Karachi, established in 2018. Its first Boeing 737-400SF was added to its fleet in July 2024 to enhance its cargo operations. The airline's operations and the circumstances surrounding this disappearance are now under intense scrutiny as the search continues.