Pakistani rescue workers on Wednesday searched the waters around the site of a suspected crash of a cargo plane, hours after air traffic control lost contact en route to Karachi.
The aircraft was operated by K2 Airways, a private cargo airline of Pakistan that operates scheduled and charter flights domestically and internationally.
What is happening in the search operation?
The airline said it was cooperating with the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies. It said there were five people on board the plane – two pilots, two engineers and a member of support staff.
“We continue to pray sincerely for the safety of our colleagues,” the airline said on Facebook.
As of late Wednesday night, the lost plane had not been found and there was no formal word on the fate of the crew, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to their families.
Authorities are carrying out coordinated search and rescue operations in the sea through various agencies, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Facebook.
The Associated Press, citing officials “familiar with the rescue operation” who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the vast search area and rough monsoon seas in the Arabian Sea were posing significant challenges to the search-and-rescue operation.
What happened in the apparent accident?
Pakistani aviation officials said the Boeing 737 cargo plane lost contact with air traffic control on Tuesday night.
The aircraft had reported a technical problem while en route from Sharjah to Karachi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The plane was flying over the Arabian Sea near Ormara in Balochistan, Pakistan – west of its destination in Karachi – when it went missing.
Plane’s rapid landing over Pakistan
The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said radar systems showed the aircraft descending rapidly and communications were lost.
According to Flightradar24.com, a global flight-tracking service, preliminary data sent from the plane indicated “a loss of altitude, followed by a climb and then a second sudden and dramatic loss of altitude.”
The last transmitted data point placed the aircraft at 1,100 feet (335 m) above sea level, with a vertical rate of descent of minus 22,400 feet per minute – approximately 400 kilometers or 250 miles per hour – an extremely fast and unusual rate of descent.
“Any time you see something extreme like this, it catches your eye, but without more information it’s too early to say what it means,” aerospace security consultant Anthony Brickhouse told Reuters.
Passenger plane converted into cargo
Formerly, the aircraft was a passenger aircraft, manufactured in 1999, operated by Aeroflot and Garuda Indonesia before being converted to cargo configuration in 2012.
The 27-year-old missing plane is part of Boeing’s 737 family, but is two generations older than the 737 Max version, which had serious safety problems and was grounded as a result.
The last time a jetliner crash occurred in Karachi was in May 2020 when a Pakistani plane carrying 98 people crashed into a crowded area near the airport after an apparent engine failure during landing.
Pakistan released a report concluding that the accident, which killed all passengers except one, was caused by human error on the part of the pilot, co-pilot and air traffic control.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
Don’t let algorithms hide news. If you trust our team for reliable reporting, please take a moment to select us as your preferred source on Google click here And press the “Star” or “Favorite” button, so you always see our verified news first.