Pakistani authorities have issued a major update following the launch of a search and rescue operation for a plane that mysteriously vanished off the coast of the country last night. The wreckage of the K2 Airways cargo Boeing 737 that lost contact with air traffic control on its way to Karachi has been found, according to Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).
A search is now ongoing to find the five crew members that were onboard of the cargo aircraft. The wreckage was found in the Arabian Sea, off the town of Ormara on Pakistan’s southern coast.
“After 12 hours of search and rescue operations in deep sea,” the PAA message said, the K2 wreckage was “successfully located and identified”. “The wreckage was recovered from 53 NM South of ORMARA,” the Pakistan Airports Authority message also added.
“Various air and sea borne assets were involved in the search to locate the wreckage and “efforts are underway to find the missing crew members. Further details will follow as Search & Rescue operation progresses,” the airport authority said.
According to Flighradar24, authorities launched a search effort for the K2 Airways Cargo 737 AP-BOI “after the flight did not land as scheduled in Karachi”. It was en route from Sharjah (UAE) to Karachi when contact was lost.
The live air traffic website said data indicated “a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden and dramatic loss of altitude”. It also added “the final received data point from the aircraft was at 16:21 UTC, placing the aircraft at 1,100 ft AMSL with a reported vertical rate of -22,400 feet per minute”. It is not yet known what caused the aircraft to disappear.
