Pakistani authorities on Wednesday located the wreckage of a K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo aircraft that went missing while flying from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Karachi, ending an intensive search for the aircraft but shifting the focus to locating the five crew members who remain unaccounted for.
According to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), the wreckage was discovered approximately 53 nautical miles south of Ormara, along Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coastline. Rescue teams from the Pakistan Navy, Air Force and other civilian agencies continue search and recovery operations in the area.
The aircraft, operated by K2 Airways, was on a scheduled cargo flight to Karachi when it reported a navigational system malfunction shortly before losing radar and radio contact with air traffic controllers on Tuesday night. Flight-tracking data indicated unusual altitude changes followed by a steep descent before the aircraft disappeared from radar over the Arabian Sea.
Officials said the Boeing 737 was carrying five crew members, including two pilots, two flight engineers and one support staff member. As of Wednesday, authorities had not confirmed the fate of those on board, and search operations remained ongoing.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed authorities to accelerate rescue and recovery efforts and expressed condolences to the families affected by the incident. The Pakistan Airports Authority, together with aviation investigators, has launched an inquiry to determine the cause of the crash.
Investigators are expected to examine the aircraft’s maintenance history, communications with air traffic control and any recoverable flight data to establish what caused the aircraft to lose control. Aviation experts have cautioned against drawing conclusions until evidence, including the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, is analysed, if recovered.
The accident marks one of Pakistan’s most serious aviation incidents in recent years and has renewed attention on flight safety and emergency response procedures. Authorities said search and recovery operations will continue until all crew members are accounted for and key evidence is retrieved from the crash site.
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