Search under way for crew of Pakistani cargo plane that crashed into sea

Rescuers have located submerged wreckage from the aircraft that disappeared as it approached Karachi.

Pakistani rescuers have located submerged wreckage from a cargo plane that disappeared on approach to Karachi and urgent efforts are under way to find the five crew members who were on board.

Navy and civilian searchers in planes and boats finally discovered remnants of the K2 Airways cargo Boeing 737 on Wednesday in the Arabian Sea, 53 nautical miles (98 km) south of Ormara port.

Retired Rear Admiral Faisal Shah told the Associated Press that the main wreckage of the plane was still being searched for and could require specialised deep-sea equipment to locate.

The 27-year-old freighter had reported a problem with its navigational system shortly after 9:18 pm Pakistani Standard Time (16:18 GMT). Air traffic control lost communication after it began to descend rapidly.

Data from flight-tracking service Flightradar24 recorded drastic changes in the plane’s altitude, with it plunging, then climbing thousands of feet within seconds and entering a final dive from 36,550 feet (11,140 metres).

K2 Airways identified the five missing crew members as pilot Muhammad Rizwan Idris, co-pilot Faisal Jatoi, flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and aircraft loader Muhammad Taufiq Khan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sympathy with the crew’s families and directed the government to deploy all available resources for the search.

Pakistan’s last fatal air crash occurred in 2020, when a Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed in Karachi, killing 97 people.