Pakistan Recovers More Cargo Plane Debris as Sea Search Continues
ISLAMABAD-Pakistan’s naval search teams recovered additional wreckage from a cargo aircraft that crashed into the Arabian Sea earlier this week, authorities said on Friday, as search operations entered a third day to locate the plane’s five missing crew members and determine the cause of the accident.
The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said search-and-rescue efforts involving the Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency were continuing in deep waters, with aircraft and maritime assets deployed in a coordinated operation. The authority said the newly recovered debris would be examined as part of the official investigation but provided no further details, adding that updates would be released as operations progressed.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 cargo plane operated by Karachi-based private carrier K2 Airways, disappeared from radar late on Tuesday while flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi. According to authorities, the crew had reported a malfunction in the aircraft’s navigation system before communication was lost.
The first pieces of wreckage were recovered on Wednesday about 100 km (60 miles) off the coastal town of Ormara on Pakistan’s Makran coast in Balochistan province. Officials have said the aircraft’s main fuselage has not yet been located, and all five crew members remain missing.
The Pakistan Airports Authority said radar data indicated the aircraft made a sudden change in heading before descending rapidly. Radio and radar contact was lost at approximately 9:21 p.m. local time when the aircraft was about 287 km (178 miles) west of Karachi.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed authorities to deploy all available resources to support search efforts and locate the missing crew. K2 Airways said it was fully cooperating with Pakistan’s civil aviation authorities in the investigation into the crash.
Search operations have been hampered by rough seas, strong winds and shifting ocean currents, conditions that can disperse floating wreckage across a wide area and complicate efforts to identify the main impact site on the seabed.
Investigators are expected to examine the recovered debris alongside radar information and other available evidence as they work to establish the sequence of events that led to the crash. Authorities have not indicated when additional findings may be released.
Pakistan has experienced several fatal aviation accidents over the past decades, prompting repeated efforts by aviation authorities to strengthen safety oversight and accident investigation procedures.
