A Boeing 737 cargo plane operated by K2 Airways is confirmed to have crashed into the sea off the coast of Pakistan after reporting a navigation system failure and losing contact with air traffic control. Debris from the aircraft was located following a 12-hour search, but the whereabouts of the five crew members remain unknown.

The Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) reported that the wreckage was found approximately 53 nautical miles (98 km) south of Ormara port. Rescue efforts are ongoing, with the Pakistani Navy and Maritime Security Agency deploying various aerial and maritime resources to locate the crew members.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed relevant agencies to expedite rescue operations for the Boeing 737-400, which has been in service for 27 years. According to K2 Airways, the aircraft was carrying two pilots, two engineers, and one support staff member. While the official status of the crew has not yet been released, Prime Minister Sharif has expressed condolences to their families.

Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 indicates that the aircraft likely crashed into the sea southwest of Karachi after experiencing a series of unusual altitude fluctuations. The plane had taken off from Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) and was en route to Karachi when, at 9:18 PM local time on July 7, the crew reported issues with the navigation system. Air traffic control attempted to guide the crew through the situation, but approximately three minutes later, radar contact was completely lost.

At the time of losing signal, the aircraft was about 155 nautical miles (287 km) west of Karachi. The final data points showed alarming irregularities, with the plane descending approximately 1,500 meters in less than a minute, then unexpectedly climbing back to around 1,830 meters within 30 seconds before plummeting from an altitude of 11,140 meters. The last recorded data indicated the aircraft was at an altitude of about 335 meters above sea level, descending at a rate of 6,830 meters per minute (approximately 410 km/h), which is considered extremely abnormal.

The aircraft involved in the incident is a Boeing 737-400, an older model equipped with CFM International engines. This model predates two generations compared to the Boeing 737 MAX. John Cox, an aviation safety expert and former commercial pilot who has flown the Boeing 737-400, noted that preliminary data suggests the crew may have struggled to control the aircraft due to an unidentified cause. "At the final stage, it is possible that the aircraft entered a stall condition and descended at a very high rate," he stated.

The cause of the accident remains undetermined. Experts indicate that aviation accidents often result from a combination of factors, and investigations can take at least a year. Pakistani authorities, responsible for the investigation under international regulations, have not yet confirmed whether the aircraft's black boxes have been recovered.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has dispatched representatives to assist with the investigation, along with technical advisors from Boeing, GE Aerospace, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to Flightradar24 data, this Boeing 737-400 was delivered to Aeroflot (Russia) in 1999 for passenger operations before being converted to a cargo aircraft in 2012. It joined K2 Airways' fleet in 2024 and was the only aircraft the airline was operating. The last recorded flight of the aircraft was on June 28.

If all crew members are confirmed deceased, this would mark the first fatal aviation accident in Pakistan since the 2020 tragedy when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A320 crashed near Karachi airport, resulting in 97 fatalities.