More wreckage of crashed cargo plane found, search for crew ongoing: PAA

The Pakistan Aviation Authority (PAA) said on Friday that the search for the crew of a cargo plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea was ongoing, adding that additional wreckage had been located.

In a statement, the authority said the search and rescue missions by the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency in the deep sea were still in progress.

“The search for the crew members is continuing with full vigour through the coordinated employment of aerial and sea-borne assets,” it said.

“Additional parts and debris of the ill-fated aircraft have been located and retrieved for subsequent analysis by the investigation team,” it said, adding that updates would be shared as the search and rescue operations continued.

On Tuesday night, a K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft en route from Sharjah to Karachi had disappeared from radar over the Arabian Sea, about 300 kilometres west of Karachi, while approaching Pakistani airspace.

The pilot had reported a navigation problem during the flight and requested assistance from the area control centre. Five crew members were on board the aircraft, including two pilots, two engineers and one support staffer.

After 12 hours of a search and rescue operation in the deep sea, the wreckage of the plane was found 53 nautical miles (98km) south of Ormara port on Wednesday.

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.