An urgent search operation is underway for a Boeing 737 cargo plane with five crew members that lost communication with air traffic control suddenly on Tuesday night.
The aircraft, registered in Pakistan, reported a malfunction in its navigation system while en route from the United Arab Emirates to Karachi, Pakistan, before descending rapidly and going silent.
According to Flightradar24 tracking data, the plane experienced a sharp drop of around 5,000 feet in less than a minute, followed by a rapid ascent of 6,000 feet in just 30 seconds, and then a dive from 36,550 feet.
The latest data point indicated the aircraft at 1,100 feet above sea level with a steep descent rate of minus 22,400 feet per minute, equivalent to about 400 kilometers per hour, which is highly unusual.
Anthony Brickhouse, an aerospace safety consultant, commented that such extreme behavior raises concerns, but it is premature to draw conclusions without further information.
An aviation expert mentioned that it remains unclear what caused the aircraft to vanish from radar. Even in the case of an engine failure, the plane would typically glide rather than plummet suddenly, raising questions about the abrupt descent.
Pakistan Airports Authority announced a coordinated search-and-rescue effort involving multiple agencies to locate the missing plane at sea.
The missing airplane is a Boeing 737-400, initially delivered to Aeroflot in Russia in 1999 as a passenger aircraft before being converted to a freighter in 2012. It is the sole aircraft operated by K2 Airways, which put it into service in 2024.
K2 Airways identified the crew members on board the cargo plane that lost contact during its flight from Sharjah to Karachi, expressing full cooperation with authorities and concern for the safety of their colleagues.
The Pakistan Aerospace Council expressed solidarity with K2 Airways and the missing crew, extending thoughts to their families during the ongoing search operation for the aircraft.
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