Search for crew members of Pakistani cargo plane that crashed into sea | Aviation News

Rescuers have found the wreckage of a plane that went missing on approach to Karachi.

Pakistani rescuers have found the wreckage of a cargo plane that went missing on approach to Karachi and an urgent operation is underway to find the five people on board.

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

Retired Rear Admiral Faisal Shah told the Associated Press that the plane’s major damage is still being investigated and may require special naval equipment to locate it.

The 27-year-old porter reported the problem with his transport shortly after 9:18 pm Pakistan Standard Time (16:18 GMT). The air traffic control lost contact after it began a rapid descent.

Data from flight tracking service Flightradar24 recorded the plane’s dramatic change in altitude, descending, then climbing thousands of feet within seconds and entering the final dive from 36,550 feet (11,140 meters).

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 flight attendant Muhammad Taufiq Khan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sympathized with the families of the workers and ordered the government to use all available resources to search for them.

The last plane crash in Pakistan happened in 2020, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed in Karachi, killing 97 people.