Pakistan Cargo Plane Vanishes Over Arabian Sea; Search and Rescue Underway

A search and rescue operation remains ongoing Wednesday after a K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft with five crew members on board vanished from radar over the Arabian Sea late Tuesday night . The aircraft, operating a freight flight from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Karachi, Pakistan, lost contact approximately 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers) west of Karachi.

According to a statement from the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), the flight reported a navigation system malfunction at 9:18 p.m. local time and requested guidance from the Karachi Area Control Center . Just three minutes later, at 9:21 p.m., radar contact was lost after controllers observed the aircraft rapidly descending and executing a sharp change in heading .

The aircraft, registration AP-BOI, was 27.5 years old, originally delivered to Aeroflot in 1999 before being converted into a freighter in 2012 . K2 Airways, a private cargo airline based in Karachi established in 2018, had leased the aircraft in October 2024 . The airline reportedly operated only this single aircraft .

Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 indicated severe instability in the final moments, with a sudden drop in altitude followed by a climb and then a second dramatic descent . The final data point showed the aircraft at 1,100 feet with a vertical descent rate of -22,400 feet per minute .

In response, Pakistan's Rescue Coordination Centre has been activated, with a coordinated search effort involving the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, and civilian maritime assets . The navy has deployed ships and aircraft to the last known position, while the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation has commenced a formal inquiry into the incident . No survivors or wreckage have been reported at this time.