Pakistan cargo jet missing after reporting navigation failure

A Pakistan-registered Boeing 737 cargo aircraft carrying five crew members lost contact with air traffic control on the night of Tuesday, July 7, after reporting a navigational system problem while flying from Sharjah to Karachi, aviation authorities said.

The Pakistan Airports Authority said the aircraft reported the issue at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time (1618 GMT) as it approached Karachi. Controllers attempted to guide the plane, but within three minutes, radar data showed a rapid descent, and communication was lost. The aircraft was about 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi at the time.

Local media reported the plane went missing over the Arabian Sea near Ormara in Balochistan. Authorities have launched a multi-agency search and rescue operation at sea.

Preliminary data from Flightradar24 indicated the 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 freighter, operated by K2 Airways, may have crashed southwest of Karachi after erratic altitude changes. Tracking showed the aircraft dropped 5,000 feet in under a minute, climbed about 6,000 feet within 30 seconds, then entered a steep descent from 36,550 feet. The last signal placed it at 1,100 feet with a vertical speed of minus 22,400 feet per minute.

“Anytime you see something extreme like that, it catches your eye, but it is too soon to say what any of it means without more information,” said aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse.

The aircraft, originally delivered to Aeroflot in 1999 and converted in 2012, is K2 Airways’ only plane.

By Tamilla Hasanova