Search teams are still looking for five crew members after the Boeing 737 disappeared over the Arabian Sea.
KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Pakistani search teams found wreckage Wednesday from a K2 Airways cargo plane that vanished over the Arabian Sea while flying from Sharjah to Karachi, but all five crew members remained missing.
The discovery moved the operation from a search for a missing aircraft to a wider recovery and investigation effort in deep water off Pakistan’s coast. The Pakistan Airports Authority said the wreckage was located about 53 nautical miles south of Ormara after a search by the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency. The aircraft had reported a navigation system problem before losing contact with air traffic control late Tuesday.
The Boeing 737-400 freighter was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi when it lost contact at about 9:21 p.m. local time Tuesday, aviation authorities said. Early tracking data showed the plane made unusual altitude changes before a rapid descent over the Arabian Sea. “All available resources are being used in the search and rescue operation,” officials said in statements describing the naval and civilian response. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sympathy for the families of those on board and directed authorities to continue the search.
K2 Airways identified the five people on board as Captain Mohammad Rizwan Idrees, First Officer Faisal Mehmood, Load Master Muhammad Toufique Khan, Engineer Arif Siddiqui and Engineer Mohammad Hamid. Other official accounts and family statements listed slightly different spellings for some names, including Faisal Jatoi for the first officer. Authorities had not announced that any of the crew had been found by Thursday. The Pakistan Airports Authority said teams recovered floating debris, but officials warned that currents could have moved pieces far from the main crash site. The depth in the area was reported to be about 3,000 meters, adding to the difficulty of finding the main fuselage and flight recorders.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-400 converted for cargo use, not a 737 Max. Aviation records and airline information show the plane, registered AP-BOI, had served K2 Airways as its freighter aircraft on cargo routes linking Pakistan with other regional markets. K2 Airways is a Karachi-based private carrier that began operations recently compared with Pakistan’s older airlines. The crash is drawing close attention because Pakistan’s aviation sector has faced scrutiny since a 2020 Pakistan International Airlines crash in Karachi killed 97 people. That case led to investigations of cockpit procedures, regulatory checks and pilot licensing issues.
Investigators have not said what caused the plane to go down. The reported navigation system problem is one piece of evidence, but aviation experts said the cause cannot be known until authorities examine radar data, maintenance records, communications and any flight recorders recovered from the sea. Possible areas of review include the aircraft’s systems, crew actions, weather, cargo loading and the plane’s final flight path. Pakistani authorities are leading the investigation, with support expected from foreign aviation agencies because the aircraft was built by Boeing and used systems regulated under international aviation rules.
Families of the crew gathered in Karachi on Wednesday as navy vessels, aircraft and maritime teams searched the waters off the coast. Relatives were shown waiting for updates and praying for the crew members’ safe return. The search area stretched across open sea west and southwest of Karachi, including waters near Ormara, a port town along Pakistan’s Makran coast. Officials said rough seas and the depth of the water made the operation difficult. The navy released images showing personnel handling pieces of wreckage on a vessel after the debris was recovered.
K2 Airways said it was cooperating with authorities and remained focused on the crew and their families. The airline did not announce a cause for the crash and did not say when it expected flights or operations to resume. Boeing had not issued a detailed public finding on the incident by Thursday. Under international practice, investigators are expected to secure recovered debris, map the wreckage field, seek the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, and review air traffic control recordings from the final minutes of the flight.
As of Thursday, July 9, the wreckage had been found, but the five crew members remained missing. The next major step is the search for the main crash site and flight recorders in the Arabian Sea.
Author note: Last updated July 9, 2026.