• Navy, maritime agency locate debris after 12-hour search
• K2 Airways aircraft went down while flying from Sharjah to Karachi
• Search for five missing crew members continues
• PM, president express concern, direct authorities to expedite rescue efforts

RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) located the wreckage of a missing K2 Airways cargo plane in the deep sea, the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Wednesday.

The Boeing 737 aircraft had gone missing on Tuesday night, while flying from Sharjah to Karachi.

“The PN and PMSA, after 12 hours of search and rescue operations in deep sea, have successfully located and identified the wreckage of K2 Airways cargo B737,” the PAA said.

The wreckage was found 53 nautical miles south of Ormara, off the coast of Balochistan.

The PAA said various air and sea assets were employed by the Pakistan Navy and PMSA to locate the wreckage, while efforts were under way to find the missing crew members.

Further details would be shared as the search and rescue operation progressed, it added.

The Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft, operated by Karachi-based K2 Airways, a private Pakistani cargo carrier providing domestic and international freight flights, vanished late on Tuesday after reporting a navigation system problem 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.

According to FlightRadar, the aircraft, registered as AP-BOI, is a Boeing 737-4M0(BDSF) that entered service with K2 Airways in 2024.

It was originally delivered to Aero­flot as a passenger aircraft in 1999 before joining Garuda Indonesia in 2004. The aircraft was converted into a freighter in 2012 and later operated by TNT Airways and ASL Airlines.

Earlier on Wednesday, PM Shehbaz Sharif directed the Civil Aviation Aut­hority, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force to intensify sea­rch and rescue operations in the Arabian Sea after the private cargo plane en route from Sharjah to Kara­chi went missing on Tuesday night.

President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed concern over the missing aircraft and hoped for a successful search and rescue operation, a statement issued by the President House said.

“The president extended heartfelt condolences to the families of the aircraft’s crew and expressed complete solidarity with them during this hour of trial,” the statement added.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2026