• PAA says PN, PMSA continue deep-sea search for five missing crew members
• Black box yet to be located off Balochistan coast
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said on Friday that additional wreckage of the cargo plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea had been located, while search and rescue teams continued efforts to find the missing crew.
It added that the Pakistan Navy (PN) and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) were continuing their search and rescue (SAR) operation in the deep sea for the missing aircraft and its crew.
In a statement, the PAA said the SAR mission remained underway in the deep sea. Additional parts and debris of the ill-fated aircraft had been recovered for subsequent analysis by the investigation team.
“The search for the crew members is continuing with full vigor through the coordinated employment of aerial and sea-borne assets,” the PAA added. “Additional parts and debris of the ill-fated aircraft have been located and retrieved for subsequent analysis by the investigation team,” the statement added, noting that further updates would be shared as the search and rescue operations continued.
The Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft, operated by Karachi-based K2 Airways, a privately owned Pakistani cargo airline, was observed disappeared from radar late on Tuesday.
According to aviation authorities, the aircraft encountered a navigation system malfunction when it was approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi, prompting the pilot to report the technical issue and requested assistance from the air traffic control. Shortly after the distress communication, all contact with the aircraft was lost. The sudden disappearance triggered an extensive search and rescue operation involving the Pakistan Navy, the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, and other relevant authorities to locate the aircraft and its crew.
Five crew members were on board the aircraft, including two pilots, two engineers and one support staffer.
After nearly 12 hours of search and rescue operations in the deep sea, the Pakistan Navy and PMSA located and identified the wreckage of the cargo aircraft, which had been declared missing on Tuesday night. The wreckage was found south of Ormara, off the coast of Balochistan.
Search teams were also continuing efforts to locate the aircraft’s black box, which contains the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR).
K2 Airways is a private airline based in Karachi. The carrier was established in May 2018 after being granted an airline charter licence by the government.
Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2026