Frantic search underway for crew after Boeing 737 wreckage found by officials

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Officials in Pakistan are scrambling after a cargo plane with five crew members went missing on Tuesday evening, prompting an urgent search.

The Boeing 737, operated by K2 Airways, was on a cargo flight en route to Karachi, Pakistan, when it disappeared around 9:21 p.m. local time, The Associated Press reported.

The flight, K2 Airways Flight 1732, had departed from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates earlier that day.

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Just minutes before contact was lost, the crew reported a “navigation system problem.” Radar data later showed the aircraft rapidly descending before contact was lost.

Radar and radio contact was lost roughly 155 nautical miles west of Karachi, officials said.

According to aviation databases Airfleets.net and Planespotters.net, the aircraft was a roughly 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 freighter, registration AP-BOI. It was K2 Airways’ only aircraft.

On Wednesday, officials announced that some wreckage was recovered 53 miles south of Ormara, but no crew members were found, according to Reuters.

Speaking to local outlet ARY News, aviation expert Imran Aslam said the flight’s rapid descent was unusual.

He noted that even if an aircraft suffers an engine failure, it would typically continue gliding rather than immediately fall from the sky.

“I still cannot understand how the plane went down so abruptly instead of gliding.”

“I still cannot understand how the plane went down so abruptly instead of gliding,” he said, per the AP.

Pakistani officials said search-and-rescue operations are underway in the Arabian Sea after military and civilian authorities were activated in response to the disappearance.

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The PNS Zulfiqar, a frigate of the Pakistan Navy, was quickly diverted to the area of the disappearance, and the Pakistan Air Force had also deployed aircraft to assist the search.

A Pakistan Navy ATR aircraft departed from Turbat, about 270 miles west of Karachi, to assist.

According to K2 Airways’ website, the airline was established in 2018, and its inaugural Boeing 737-400SF aircraft arrived in Karachi on July 1, 2024.

The airline’s purpose is to “connect businesses by providing safe, efficient, and innovative air cargo,” its website says.

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“We aim to expand our fleet and operations, further solidifying our position as a leader in Pakistan’s aviation,” says the site.