A K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 freighter operating from Sharjah to Karachi has disappeared over the Arabian Sea after reporting a navigation problem, then making a series of violent altitude changes before radar contact was lost. Five crew members were onboard.
K2 Airways Boeing 737 Freighter Missing After Plunging Into Arabian Sea
A Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft operated by Pakistani carrier K2 Airways has gone missing over the Arabian Sea after a deeply troubling sequence of events during a flight from Sharjah (SHJ) in the UAE to Karachi, Pakistan (KHI).
The aircraft, registered AP-BOI, was operating K2 Airways flight KTA1732 on Tuesday night with five crew members onboard. According to Reuters, the aircraft reported a navigational system problem at 9:18 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time while approaching Karachi. Local air traffic control attempted to guide the aircraft, but three minutes later radar showed the plane descending rapidly, and communication was lost.
The aircraft was about 155 nautical miles west of Karachi at the time.
Per flight tracking data, the Boeing 737 reportedly plunged about 5,000 feet in less than a minute, then climbed roughly 6,000 feet in about 30 seconds, before entering a catastrophic final descent from 36,550 feet. The last transmitted data point placed the aircraft at 1,100 feet above sea level with a vertical rate of minus 22,400 feet per minute.
It goes without saying that is an extraordinary and deeply abnormal descent…
Search-and-rescue operations are now underway in the Arabian Sea, involving Pakistani authorities and military assets. K2 Airways says it is cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies, adding:
We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues.
As of the latest reports I have seen, the aircraft has not been recovered and the fate of those onboard has not been officially confirmed.
A Very Unusual Sequence…
It is far too early to know what happened here.
This was a 27-year-old Boeing 737-400, originally delivered as a passenger aircraft in 1999 and later converted into a freighter. The aircraft first flew for Aeroflot, then Garuda Indonesia earlier in its life before being converted to cargo use. K2 Airways is a small cargo operator, and this aircraft was reportedly its only plane.
Unsurprisingly, this incident has generated a lot of speculation, especially as President Trump has announced that the ceasefire with Iran is over.
A navigation issue by itself does not explain an aircraft plunging from cruise altitude toward the sea. Aircraft can suffer navigation failures and still remain controllable. Pilots train for unreliable indications, instrument failures, communication issues, and diversion scenarios.
But the combination of a reported navigation problem, rapid altitude loss, a climb, a heading change, and then a final steep descent raises many possibilities, most likely a catastrophic mechanical failure, but also potentially, let’s call it, something external…like a missile.
The point is not to guess. The point is that investigators will need the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder, radar data, maintenance records, ATC recordings, and any available wreckage before drawing conclusions.
Until then, caution is appropriate.
CONCLUSION
A K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 freighter operating from Sharjah to Karachi has gone missing over the Arabian Sea after reporting a navigation problem and then making a series of dramatic altitude changes before radar contact was lost.
Five crew members were onboard. Search-and-rescue operations are underway, and while flight tracking data suggests a possible crash into the sea, the aircraft and crew have not yet been officially recovered.
This is a terrible story, and it is also a strange one. A navigation problem alone should not cause an aircraft to fall from the sky, but the final minutes of this flight appear to have been anything but ordinary. For now it is simply not clear what happened. All we can do is pray for the crew, wait for the search teams, and let investigators determine what happened. What. tragedy…
image: FlightAware
who said its a tragedy? do you know what cargo planes carry in the mideast?
thank god for many innocent lies saved
RIP to the crew, regardless. We should not be celebrating anyone’s death like that.
At a different time, in another part of the world this would still be a difficult investigation. The fact that a Boeing aircraft returned to service just adds to the speculation.
Prayers for everyone that solid answers will be found.
Prayers for the crew and thoughts with their families at this difficult time.
And hopefully the answers are quickly found on how this occurred.
shot down is the most likely answer
I am derek, not Derek.
Also possible is a shift in the load causing the plane to crash because of an improper center of gravity. This could happen when evading a missile but could happen in other ways, too.
No, if you know anything about aircraft accident investigations, historical trends, and even look at the basic path of this flight – all options are to be considered, but CFIT is the leading choice, not being shot down. There would already be other evidence if that was downed by fire – it’s easy for anyone else flying in the area to see a missile at night or a flaming aircraft, for example,
“Pilots train for unreliable indications, instrument failures, communication issues, and diversion scenarios.” – as stated in the article, this is true. But “training” for unusual situations is not the same as being proficient in them. It’s not controversial to say that you get a differently skilled and experienced pilot at a cargo company with a single, old 737-400 than you get at British Airways.
My money is on a crew, relatively reliant on the aircraft automation, being unable to manage a challenging situation (loss of autopilot and/or regular nav) at night with limited visual references and almost no moonlight, as they try to troubleshoot conflicting information (loss of attitude or similar). It has happened at night, over the water, on simple planes (see JFK Jr) to complex ones (see Air France 447), and I think it just happened again.
RIP to the crew.
Sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the flight crew!