ISLAMABAD (AP) — Civilian and navy searchers off Pakistan's coast Wednesday located and recovered wreckage of a cargo plane that disappeared while approaching the southern port of Karachi, and a search continues for five missing crew members, officials said.
The aircraft operated by the private carrier K2 Airways had departed from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and reported a navigational system problem before losing contact with air traffic control
late Tuesday.
The Pakistani navy and civilian teams in planes and ships found the wreckage after about 12 hours of searching in the Arabian Sea, Pakistan’s Airports Authority said in a post on X. The search continued for five missing people who were aboard the aircraft.
Three officials familiar with the search operation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the incident, said the vast search area in the Arabian Sea and rough monsoon seas were posing significant challenges to the search-and-rescue operation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sympathy with the families of the five crew members, according to a statement from his office, and directed the government to deploy all available resources for the search effort.
In a statement, K2 Airways identified the missing crew as Capt. Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and aircraft loader Muhammad Taufiq Khan.
“We continue to pray earnestly for the safety of our colleagues,” it said.
Pakistan’s Airports Authority said earlier on X that radar data showed the aircraft making a sharp change in heading and rapidly descending before radar and radio contact were lost at about 9:21 p.m., approximately 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers, 178 miles) west of Karachi.
Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local broadcaster ARY News late Tuesday that it remained unclear what caused the aircraft to disappear from radar. He said that even if an aircraft suffered an engine failure, it would normally continue gliding rather than plunge suddenly. He said the exact cause would become clear only after investigators gathered more evidence.
In May 2020, a Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 98 people crashed into a densely populated neighborhood near Karachi airport while attempting to land. All but one of the 99 people on board were killed. A government investigation later concluded that human error by the pilots and air traffic controllers caused the crash.
