A Pakistan-registered Boeing 737 cargo plane with five crew members on board lost contact with air traffic control on Tuesday night after reporting a navigational system problem on its way from Sharjah to Karachi, Pakistan aviation authorities said.
Early flight data indicated the 27-year-old converted freighter operated by K2 Airways possibly crashed into the sea southwest of Karachi after a series of sharp altitude changes before a steep final descent, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
Authorities have launched a coordinated search and rescue operation at sea through various agencies to locate the missing plane, Pakistan Airports Authority said on Facebook.
The plane reported a navigational system issue at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time (1618 GMT) while flying toward Karachi, the airports authority said.
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Local air traffic control tried to guide the aircraft, but three minutes later radar systems showed the plane descending rapidly and communication was lost, the authority said. The flight was about 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi at the time, according to the statement.
The aircraft went missing while flying over the Arabian Sea near Ormara in Balochistan, Pakistan, local media Geo News reported.
Flightradar24 said data showed the aircraft first lost altitude, then briefly climbed, before a second, sudden and dramatic drop. It added that the last transmitted data point placed the aircraft at 1,100 feet above sea level, with a vertical rate of minus 22,400 feet per minute, an extremely steep and abnormal rate of descent.
The Boeing 737-400 aircraft is private cargo airline operator K2 Airways' only aircraft, which entered into service with the carrier in 2024.
It had previously operated as a passenger jet - originally with Russia's Aeroflot in 1999 - before being converted into a freighter in 2012, Flightradar24 said.
K2 Airways and Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
