Five dead as K2 Airways cargo plane crashes off coast

KARACHI: A K2 Airways cargo plane en route from Sharjah to Karachi crashed into the sea near the coastal area of ​​Ormara in Balochistan, resulting in the death of all five crew members, including the pilot.

The deceased in the accident include pilot Muhammad Rizwan Idrees, co-pilot Faisal Jatoi, engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, and loadmaster Muhammad Tawfiq Khan.

🚨 BREAKING: K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 freighter (AP-BOI) vanished over the Arabian Sea en route from Sharjah to Karachi.

Flight data shows a brutal nosedive — dropping 35k feet in under 2 minutes.

Search ops underway for the 5 crew. pic.twitter.com/qe0mPCnqGr

— De Emiratez (@officialkpalaps) July 7, 2026

According to the Pakistan Airports Authority, the K2 Airways B737 cargo plane was en route from Sharjah to Karachi when the pilot reported a malfunction in the navigation system at 9:18 PM Pakistan Standard Time.

On which, the Karachi Area Control Center began guiding the plane. However, at 9:21 PM, the plane was seen descending rapidly on the radar and changing its course, while at 9:32 PM it completely lost contact with air traffic control over the sea near Ormara.

According to aviation officials, the plane crashed into the sea about 300 kilometers from Karachi and in the sea area of ​​Ormara, about 130 nautical miles from Karachi, due to a technical fault.

Immediately after the loss of contact, the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, and Pakistan Coast Guard launched a joint search and rescue operation, after which the plane crash and the death of all 5 crew members were confirmed.

The relevant authorities have launched an investigation into the accident to determine the reasons for the plane crash.

The Last Radio Transmission of the K2 Cargo Plane

The last radio transmission of the K2 Cargo plane that crashed in the sea west of Karachi….as an aviator it is absolutely heart breaking…. pic.twitter.com/4rUZNU1TnX

— Fakhr-e-Alam S.I & S.E (@falamb3) July 8, 2026

What happened to the aircraft?

Initial reports from the tracking service Flightradar24 show that the airplane exhibited great fluctuations in its altitude until it disappeared.

According to the information available, the airplane initially decreased in altitude but then ascended and took a sharp dive. Its last recorded position was about 1,100 feet above mean sea level, having a very fast descent rate of 22,400 feet per minute.

“There are some data that indicate a possible crash,” Flightradar24 said on Wednesday. “However, exactly what happened is still unknown.”

Was it some kind of technical malfunction? It has been established that the pilot reported problems with his navigation system before going out of contact.

“Flightradar24 observed that the aircraft suffered some Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference immediately after leaving Sharjah, similar to what has been observed on other flights operating in this area,” a statement from the company explains.

“However, this navigation data was back to normal once the aircraft got out of the interfering area, and in our investigations, we have never related this GNSS interference to the case.”