Fate of Karachi-bound flight remains unclear (Img: Dynamite News)
New Delhi: More than 14 hours after a K2 Airways cargo aircraft vanished over the Arabian Sea, the fate of the Karachi-bound flight and its five-member crew remains unknown, with Pakistani authorities continuing an extensive air and sea search operation.
The Pakistan-registered Boeing 737-400 freighter was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi on Tuesday night when it reported a navigational system malfunction before losing contact with air traffic control.
Pakistan has expanded its search-and-rescue efforts by deploying the Navy, Air Force and civilian agencies to locate the missing aircraft.
According to officials, the Pakistan Navy diverted the frigate PNS Zulfiqar to the suspected search area, while Air Force aircraft and a Navy ATR surveillance plane joined the operation. A merchant vessel operated by the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation has also been dispatched to assist in the search.
Despite the large-scale operation, authorities have not located the aircraft or confirmed its exact whereabouts.
The Pakistan Airports Authority said the crew alerted air traffic controllers about a navigation system malfunction shortly before communication was lost.
Radar data reportedly showed the aircraft making sudden altitude changes followed by a rapid descent approximately 155 nautical miles southwest of Karachi over the Arabian Sea.
Flight-tracking platform Flightradar24 also indicated that the aircraft experienced sharp fluctuations in altitude before disappearing from radar, raising concerns that it may have crashed into the sea.
Aviation experts say it is too early to determine what caused the aircraft to disappear.
Pakistani aviation analyst Imran Aslam noted that even if an aircraft suffers an engine failure, it would generally continue gliding rather than descend abruptly, making the sequence of events unusual based on the available data.
K2 Airways has said it is fully cooperating with Pakistani aviation authorities. Officials have not released the identities of the five crew members and have urged against speculation until concrete evidence emerges.
Search teams continue to comb the Arabian Sea, while authorities say further updates will be shared as the rescue operation progresses.
