Pakistan cargo plane vanishes over Arabian Sea after reporting navigation failure

A cargo plane, flying from Sharjah to Karachi, went missing from the radar over the Arabian Sea on Tuesday late in the night, Dawn reported.

The K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 aircraft lost contact with the control room about 300 kilometres west of Karachi when it was approaching Pakistani airspace, the report said.

The pilot had flagged a navigation problem during the flight and asked for assistance from the area control centre.

The aircraft carried five crew members, said the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).

What does the last received data say?

The PAA said that the plane reported a navigational system issue at 9:18 pm and was promptly guided by the Karachi Area Control Centre (ACC). However, at 9:21 pm, it was observed that the aircraft was “rapidly descending” and making a sharp change in heading. Following this, “radar contact and communication were lost” approximately 287 kilometres west of Karachi. “Preliminary ADS-B data indicate a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden and dramatic loss of altitude,” flight-tracking service FlightRadar said.