A Boeing 737-400 cargo plane registered in Pakistan and operated by K2 Airways lost contact with air traffic control on July 7, 2026, after reporting a navigation system failure while flying from Sharjah, UAE, to Karachi, Pakistan [1, 2, 3]. The plane carried five crew members: two pilots, two flight engineers, and one support staff [1, 4].
At 9:18 PM Pakistan Standard Time, the aircraft reported problems with its navigation system. Radar data three minutes later showed the plane undergoing chaotic altitude changes and a rapid descent about 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi, near the Arabian Sea off Ormara in Balochistan [1, 2, 3, 5]. Flight tracking indicated extreme altitude fluctuations, including a plunge of 5,000 feet in under a minute, followed by a climb of 6,000 feet in 30 seconds, and a near-vertical dive from 36,550 feet [2, 3, 4]. The last transmission placed the plane at approximately 1,100 feet above sea level, descending at an unusually steep rate of 22,400 feet per minute (400 km/h) [2, 3, 4].
The aircraft was 27 years old, originally delivered to Aeroflot in 1999 as a passenger jet before conversion to a freighter in 2012. It was the sole aircraft in K2 Airways' fleet [2, 3]. Aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse said, "Anytime you see something extreme like that, it catches your eye, but it is too soon to say what any of it means without more information" [2].
Pakistan authorities launched search and rescue operations immediately, deploying navy ships, aircraft, and maritime agencies to the area [1, 2, 4]. Approximately 12 hours after disappearance, rescuers found submerged wreckage about 98 km (53 nautical miles) south of Ormara port in the Arabian Sea [4, 6]. Search efforts for the five missing crew members continue. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed heartfelt condolences to the families and directed authorities to accelerate the search [4].
K2 Airways stated it is fully cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other agencies in the ongoing investigation and search efforts, adding, "We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues" [3, 4]. This is Pakistan's first major civilian air disaster since May 2020 [7].
