K2 Airways plane missing over Arabian Sea search started

A K2 Airways cargo plane carrying five crew members disappeared over the Arabian Sea on Tuesday night after reporting a critical navigational fault, prompting a major international search and rescue operation. The Boeing 737-400, operating as flight KTA1732 from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Karachi, Pakistan, lost radar and radio contact approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.

According to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, the aircraft's crew alerted the Karachi Area Control Centre to a navigational system issue at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time and was promptly guided by controllers. Just three minutes later, at 9:21 p.m., radar data showed the aircraft making a sudden change in heading paired with a rapid descent. Contact was lost shortly thereafter.

The Rescue Coordination Centre was immediately activated, launching a coordinated maritime and aerial search. The Pakistan Navy dispatched the warship PNS Zulfiqar to the area, while the Pakistan Air Force scrambled a Saab surveillance aircraft from Bholari Airbase. A Navy ATR aircraft from Turbat and the commercial vessel MT Lahore from the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation have also joined the operation.