Overview
- The cargo jet lost contact on Tuesday night after the crew reported a navigational-system fault and radar tracked sharp heading changes and a rapid altitude loss before radio and radar contact ceased about 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.
- Preliminary flight-tracking data from independent services show the 737 first dropped, briefly climbed, then entered a near-vertical descent with its last transmitted position around 1,100 feet and an unusually high descent rate of about 22,400 feet per minute, but those feeds are not official investigative sources.
- Pakistan activated its Rescue Coordination Centre and deployed navy and air force aircraft, the frigate PNS Zulfiqar and commercial vessels to search the Arabian Sea, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered search efforts to be intensified.
- The aircraft is a 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 freighter, registration AP-BOI, converted from passenger service and placed with K2 Airways in 2024; K2 says five crew were aboard and is cooperating with authorities.
- No wreckage or survivors have been publicly confirmed, a formal probe led by aviation investigators is planned, and the case is likely to prompt scrutiny of the jet’s maintenance, leasing history and Pakistan’s aviation safety practices.