**Pakistan Searches for Missing Boeing Cargo Plane Over Arabian Sea**
*Islamabad, Pakistan – July 8, 2026* – A search operation is underway in Pakistan for a Boeing cargo aircraft that has gone missing over the Arabian Sea. The aircraft, a 27-year-old Boeing 737-400, was operated by K2 Airways, a private cargo airline based in Karachi, and was carrying five crew members at the time of its disappearance.
The plane took off from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and was en route to Karachi when it lost contact with air traffic control at approximately 9:18 PM local time (16:18 GMT) on Tuesday. According to the Pakistan Airports Authority, the aircraft had reported a navigational system fault shortly before losing contact.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 indicated that the aircraft experienced a rapid loss of altitude, dropping nearly 1,525 meters (5,000 feet) in less than a minute. It then climbed approximately 1,830 meters (6,000 feet) within the next 30 seconds before entering a steep, near-vertical descent from an altitude of 11,140 meters (36,550 feet). The last recorded position of the aircraft showed it descending at a rate of 22,400 feet per minute, or about 400 kilometers per hour, before contact was lost approximately 155 nautical miles (287 kilometers) west of Karachi.
In response to the incident, search efforts have been mobilized, involving a Pakistani navy ship, a merchant vessel operated by the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, and two navy aircraft. As of now, no wreckage or survivors have been located.
K2 Airways, the airline operating the flight, expressed its concern for the missing crew members in a statement released on Wednesday, stating, “We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues.” The airline also confirmed its full cooperation with the authorities during the search operation.
This incident marks a significant concern for Pakistan, as it would represent the first major civilian air disaster in the country since May 2020, when a Pakistan International Airlines plane crashed short of the runway in Karachi, resulting in the deaths of 97 of the 99 people on board.
The Boeing 737-400 involved in the current incident has a long history, having been delivered to Russia’s Aeroflot as a passenger aircraft in 1999. It later operated for Garuda Indonesia before being converted into a freighter in 2012 for Belgium’s TNT Airways. Records indicate that the aircraft was withdrawn from service in June 2023 and remained in storage in France for about 10 months. It was reactivated by the Irish company AerCap in April 2024, before being placed back into storage in Jakarta and later Karachi, where it stayed for nearly six months before entering service with K2 Airways in December 2024.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed his grief regarding the incident and extended his sympathies to the families of the missing crew members. The search for the missing aircraft continues as authorities work diligently to locate the plane and its crew.