New Delhi: Pakistani search and rescue teams located the wreckage of a private cargo plane that went missing while flying from Sharjah in the UAE to Karachi with five crew members on board, officials said. The Boeing 737 cargo aircraft, operated by Karachi-based private airline K2 Airways, had lost contact with air traffic controllers in Karachi.
The Pakistan Airports Authority said the wreckage was recovered 53 nautical miles south of Ormara on the Balochistan coast after about 12 hours of search and rescue operations in the deep Arabian Sea. It said the Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency “successfully located and identified wreckage” of the plane, adding that “efforts are underway to find the missing crew members”.
A reliable PAA source was quoted as saying in media reports that the wreckage was found close to the location where the aircraft had lost contact with controllers in Karachi. “There are remote chances of the five crew members having survived the crash,” the source added.
The crew, all Pakistanis, were identified as Captain Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and loadmaster Muhammad Taufiq Khan.
Following the recovery of the wreckage, the relevant authorities cordoned off the area and began further investigation and evidence collection, an official said. Officials said investigations were under way to determine the cause of the crash, while efforts to gather information about the crew members on board and the recovery operation were also continuing.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Civil Aviation Authority, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force to intensify search and rescue operations in the Arabian Sea. President Asif Ali Zardari extended condolences to the families of the crew and expressed solidarity with them during this hour of trial, according to a statement from his office.
The aircraft reportedly went missing while flying at an altitude of 34,000 feet. It had reportedly remained in Sharjah for about 10 days after developing a technical fault. K2 Airways is a private airline based in Karachi and has been operating cargo flights since 2018.
The wreckage has now been located in the Arabian Sea, while the search for the five missing crew members and the investigation into the crash continue.
