Pakistani cargo plane disappears from radar, believed to have crashed into the sea

A Boeing 737 cargo plane with five crew members reported a navigation system malfunction and vanished from radar near Karachi, Pakistani aviation authorities said. Air traffic controllers lost contact after the aircraft was seen rapidly losing altitude, and Flightradar24 data suggests it may have crashed into the sea southwest of Karachi.

Tuesday night, the desk reported that a Pakistani Boeing 737 cargo plane vanished from radar after a navigation malfunction. Within minutes, a rapid sequence of updates confirmed the operator as K2 Airways, five crew members aboard, and a rapid descent southwest of Karachi. Now, Flightradar24 data suggests the aircraft crashed into the Arabian Sea near Karachi.

The desk’s first report (v1, 22:42 Jerusalem) said a search was underway for a missing cargo plane off Karachi. Within the same minute, v2 stated the plane had reported a navigation fault and descended rapidly, per the Pakistan Airports Authority. v3 specified the fault time (21:18 local) and a heading change. v4 confirmed the operator K2 Airways and the five crew members. v5 still referred to the Indian Ocean, but v6 corrected to the Arabian Sea. v7 introduced Flightradar24 data indicating a crash southwest of Karachi. The latest update (v8) summarized the navigation malfunction. The current development refines the crash location using Flightradar24 data.

As The Zioneer reported earlier tonight, the aircraft was en route from Sharjah, UAE, to Karachi. No distress signal was received. The aircraft’s registration and operator have not yet been officially confirmed, though K2 Airways has been identified by authorities.

Search and rescue operations are expected to be launched. The exact cause of the navigation system failure remains unknown.

8 developments

1. 8 minutes ago · 00:38 · 8 JulLatest

   Identified as K2 Airways flight KTA1732 with five crew members.

2. 23:54 · 7 Jul

   Flight data shows rapid 35,000-foot altitude loss before disappearance.

3. 23:31 · 7 Jul

   Flightradar24 data suggests the aircraft crashed into the sea near Karachi.

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Source and signal

• Internal intake