Pakistani rescue teams locate wreckage of private aircraft that disappeared over Arabian Sea

Karachi: Pakistani search and rescue teams on Wednesday located the wreckage of a private cargo plane that went missing while flying from Sharjah in the UAE to Karachi with five crew members on board a day earlier, officials said.

The wreckage of the Boeing 737 cargo aircraft, operated by Karachi-based private airline K2 Airways, was recovered from 53 nautical miles south of Ormara on the Balochistan coast, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said in a post on X.

The Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) "successfully located and identified wreckage" of the plane after about 12 hours of search and rescue operations in the deep Arabian Sea, it said.


"Efforts are underway to find the missing crew members", it said.

A reliable PAA source said the wreckage was recovered close to the location where the aircraft lost contact with air traffic controllers in Karachi on Tuesday night.

"There are remote chances of the five crew members having survived the crash," he said.

The crew, all Pakistanis, included Captain Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, Flight Engineers Muhammad Hamid & Muhammad Arif Siddiqui and Loadmaster Muhammad Taufiq Khan.

Following the recovery of the wreckage, the relevant authorities have cordoned off the area and initiated further investigation and evidence-collection procedures, the official said.

Officials said that investigations are underway to determine the cause of the crash, while efforts to gather information regarding the crew members on board and the recovery operation are also ongoing.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force to intensify search and rescue operations in the Arabian Sea.

President Asif Ali Zardari extended heartfelt condolences to the families of the aircraft's crew and expressed complete solidarity with them during this hour of trial, a statement from his office said.

The aircraft went missing while flying reportedly at an altitude of 34,000 feet.

The aircraft reportedly had remained in Sharjah for about 10 days after developing a technical fault.

K2 Airways is a private airline based in Karachi and has been operating cargo flights since 2018.

The PAA earlier said that the cargo flight reported a navigational system issue at 09.18 pm (local time) on Tuesday and was promptly guided by Karachi Area Control Centre (ACC).

"However, at 09:22 pm (local time), the aircraft was observed on radar rapidly descending with a rapid heading change. Subsequently, radar contact and communication were lost approximately 155 NM west of Karachi," it said.

Commercial vessels operated by the National Shipping Corporation were also deployed to help scan the waters, sources said.