A cargo plane that departed from Sharjah crashed into the sea after disappearing from radar off the coast of Pakistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended condolences to the families of the five crew members aboard the aircraft, according to a statement from his government posted on X. The statement said he “expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic incident” and confirmed that the K2 Airways aircraft went down in the Arabian Sea.
“The Prime Minister has extended heartfelt condolences to the families of the five crew members aboard the aircraft,” the government said.
Air traffic control lost contact with the K2 Airways Cargo Boeing 737 on Tuesday night after a navigation system issue occurred while the aircraft was en route to Karachi. Flight data indicated that the plane experienced a loss of altitude and a steep rate of descent, followed by a climb and then another sudden drop in altitude, suggesting that it crashed into the sea.
Pakistan’s aviation authorities said a search and rescue operation was launched following the incident. In an update posted on Facebook, the airline said the aircraft “lost contact with air traffic control at about 21.21 hours according to Pakistan time.”
“Search and rescue operations are being conducted by the concerned organisations,” the airline said.
K2 Airways later released the names of the five crew members aboard the flight: pilot Mohammad Rizwan Idrees; first officer Faisal Mehmood; loadmaster Muhammad Toufique Khan; and engineers Arif Siddiqui and Mohammad Hamid.
