The Boeing 737 freighter lost contact after reporting a navigation problem west of Pakistan’s coast.
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — A K2 Airways cargo plane carrying five crew members disappeared late Tuesday over the Arabian Sea after reporting a navigation problem while flying from Sharjah to Karachi, Pakistani aviation officials said.
The missing aircraft, a Boeing 737 freighter, vanished about 155 nautical miles west of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and a major port on the Arabian Sea. The disappearance prompted a multiagency search involving aviation, naval and maritime authorities. Officials said the cause was not known and would be determined after an investigation. K2 Airways said it was working with government agencies as search crews looked for the aircraft and its crew.
The Pakistan Airports Authority said the plane was flying toward Karachi when it reported a navigation system issue at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time. Air traffic controllers at the Karachi Area Control Centre began giving guidance to the crew. Three minutes later, at 9:21 p.m., the plane was seen on radar rapidly descending and making a sharp heading change. Radar contact and communication were then lost. K2 Airways said in a statement that it was cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other agencies. “We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues,” the airline said.
The Rescue Coordination Centre was activated after the plane disappeared, and officials launched a search at sea. Pakistan’s navy dispatched the warship PNS Zulfiqar to the area, while the Pakistan Air Force sent a SAAB surveillance aircraft. A Pakistan Navy ATR aircraft also joined the search. The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation deployed its commercial vessel Lahore to assist. Officials said five crew members were aboard. K2 Airways identified the crew as a pilot, a first officer, a load master and two engineers. Authorities did not immediately say whether any debris, beacon signal or emergency transmission had been found.
Flight-tracking data added a troubling picture of the plane’s final minutes, though officials cautioned that the information was preliminary. The aircraft, registered as AP-BOI, was listed as a Boeing 737-4M0 BDSF freighter. Tracking data showed the plane making steep and unusual altitude changes before its last signal. The aircraft dropped about 5,000 feet in less than a minute, rose about 6,000 feet in about 30 seconds and then descended sharply from cruising altitude. The last transmitted data point placed the plane about 1,100 feet above sea level with a very steep descent rate.
Anthony Brickhouse, an aerospace safety consultant, said such flight data can draw attention but cannot explain what happened by itself. “Anytime you see something extreme like that, it catches your eye, but it is too soon to say what any of it means without more information,” Brickhouse said. Aviation officials have not confirmed a crash, and the exact location of the aircraft remained unknown. Search teams were working in open water southwest of Karachi, where sea conditions, darkness and distance from shore can slow recovery efforts.
The aircraft was a 27-year-old converted freighter. It was first delivered as a passenger plane to Aeroflot in 1999, later flew for Garuda Indonesia and was converted to carry cargo in 2012. It later operated for TNT Airways and ASL Airlines before joining K2 Airways in 2024. The 737-400 is part of Boeing’s older 737 family and is not the same model as the 737 MAX. The plane used engines made by CFM International, a company jointly owned by GE Aerospace and Safran.
K2 Airways is based in Karachi and operates freight service using Boeing 737 aircraft. The missing flight was traveling from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi, a route that usually crosses the Arabian Sea before reaching southern Pakistan. Karachi is home to Jinnah International Airport and is one of the country’s busiest aviation hubs. Officials did not immediately release the cargo type, the planned arrival time or the crew members’ full names in the first public statements.
The disappearance comes as Pakistan’s aviation safety record remains under close watch after several deadly crashes in recent years. In 2020, a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 crashed near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, killing nearly all people aboard. In 2019, a Pakistan Army aircraft crashed in Rawalpindi, killing crew members and civilians on the ground. In 2010, an Airblue passenger jet crashed north of Islamabad, killing more than 150 people. Officials have not linked those incidents to Tuesday’s disappearance.
The next steps depend on whether search teams locate wreckage, survivors, floating debris or flight recorders. Aviation investigators are expected to review air traffic control recordings, radar data, maintenance records, crew communications and flight-tracking information. If the plane is found in deep water, recovery could require naval equipment and specialized search tools. Officials said the cause would be determined through a formal investigation, but they had not announced a timeline for findings by Wednesday.
The search area lies far from Karachi’s shoreline, in waters used by commercial vessels moving through the Arabian Sea. The deployment of a navy frigate, surveillance planes and a commercial ship showed the size of the response in the first hours after contact was lost. Aviation officials described the search as coordinated across several agencies. The airline’s public statement focused on the missing crew, while authorities said the first priority remained locating the aircraft.
As of Wednesday, July 8, the aircraft and five crew members remained missing, and search-and-rescue operations were continuing west of Karachi. Officials had not confirmed the cause of the disappearance or whether the plane crashed into the sea.
Author note: Last updated July 8, 2026.