KARACHI — The wreckage of a K2 Airways cargo plane that vanished from radar over the Arabian Sea has been located in deep waters roughly 53 nautical miles south of Ormara, officials confirmed, as search and rescue teams entered a second day of efforts to find five missing crew members.
Aircraft Disappeared During Sharjah-Karachi Ferry Flight
The Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft, registered AP-BOI and operating as Flight KTA-1732, disappeared from radar late Tuesday night while flying over the Arabian Sea near Ormara. The 27-year-old aircraft was en route from Sharjah to Karachi on a ferry flight, carrying no cargo, when contact was lost.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said the aircraft’s crew had reported a malfunction in the plane’s navigation system shortly before it descended suddenly and altered course, disappearing from radar soon after.
Flight tracking data from FlightRadar showed the aircraft cruising normally at 35,000 feet and a speed of 790 km/h at 9:17 p.m. before it made an abrupt U-turn. Over the next five minutes, the plane descended nearly 34,000 feet, dropping to an altitude of just 1,100 feet and slowing to 211 km/h before vanishing entirely, roughly 155 nautical miles west of Karachi. Radar and radio contact were lost at the same time.
Wreckage Recovered After 12-Hour Search
The Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) located the wreckage following a continuous 12-hour search and rescue operation involving air and maritime teams from both agencies. Search efforts are now focused on recovering the five crew members still missing: pilot Captain Rizwan Idrees, First Officer Faisal Mahmood Jatoi, aircraft engineers Muhammad Arif Siddiqui and Muhammad Hamid Khan, and loadmaster Muhammad Taufiq Khan. All five are from Karachi.
Aircraft Had Just Completed Repairs in Sharjah
Sources said the aircraft had been sent to Sharjah for repairs after developing a technical fault, and had remained there for five days before departing on the ferry flight back to Karachi. The maintenance work was reportedly carried out by North Technologies, a company said to be owned by a former aviation adviser.
Captain Was Former Fighter Pilot, Father of Five
Captain Rizwan Idrees, who was at the controls, was a former Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot who moved into commercial aviation after retiring from the military and was regarded as a highly experienced pilot. He was the father of five children, two of whom are studying abroad. His children said their last contact with him was at around 7 p.m. the evening before the aircraft disappeared.
Aircraft engineer Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, also on board, had retired from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as Deputy Chief Engineer and was more recently associated with a private aircraft maintenance company. He was the father of eight children. Before departing Sharjah, he had called his wife to inform her he was heading back to Karachi.
Search and rescue operations for the remaining crew members were ongoing at the time of reporting.