KARACHI, Feb 26: The wreckage of the Cessna aircraft which crashed on Monday in the Arabian Sea some 56 kilometres west from here, was located 30 meters down the open sea on Wednesday, some 40-45 nautical miles from here.

Commander Roshan Khayal of the ISPR (Pakistan Navy) told Dawn that after hectic efforts the Pakistan Navy ship, PNS Munsf, had located the wreckage of the aircraft just before sunset.

He said the experts of the Navy would decide on Thursday the procedure to winch the wreckage, as it was not an easy task.

Afghanistan’s minister for mines and industries, Juma Mohammad Mohammadi, and seven other people were killed on Monday when a chartered Cessna, bound for Juzzak airfield near Saindak in Balochistan, crashed in the Arabian Sea, some 56km west of Karachi.

There were no survivors and the Pakistan Navy rescue teams recovered five bodies from the sea. Three bodies were still untraced and the Navy rescuers had been searching the remaining bodies, sources said.

The Cessna, which was chartered by the Star Aviation from Edhi air ambulance for a Chinese firm, Metallurgic Construction Company Resource Development, had left the Karachi airport at 8.10am for the Juzzak airfield in Balochistan with eight persons on board — five Afghans, one Chinese and two Pakistanis — including the pilot.

The plane had been flying at an altitude of 9,000 feet when it suddenly plunged into the sea, 56 kilometres (30 nautical miles) west of the city, losing contact with air traffic control, the sources said. The cause of the crash was not yet known, they added.

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING: Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor, on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the search operation, adds APP.