A Pakistani Boeing 737 freighter en route from the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan disappeared over the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, the Pakistan Airports Authority said in a statement.
Preliminary ADS-B data indicates a drop in altitude 2120 Hrs. local time, followed by a climb, then a sharp drop in altitude, before disappearing from radar entirely.
The K2 Airways Boeing 737-400, flight KTA1732, registration AP-BOI, was on a ferry flight to Karachi with Five crew members, from Sharjah (SHJ) after maintenance.
At 9:18 PM local time, while flying along air route G216 approximately 150 nautical miles south of Karachi, the crew reported a navigation system fault and requested heading guidance.
The aircraft was instructed to maintain its current course. Shortly after, it was observed turning right and descending rapidly, losing altitude at a rate of roughly 15,000 feet per minute.
Repeated attempts to reestablish contact did not bring any success, and at 9:21 PM, approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi, the aircraft disappeared from radar with simultaneous loss of both radar and communication contact.
"A K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft en route from Sharjah to Karachi disappeared from radar over the Arabian Sea, about 300 kilometers west of Karachi, on Tuesday," the statement said.
"However, at 9.21 pm local time (1621GMT), the aircraft was observed on radar rapidly descending with a rapid heading change. Subsequently, radar contact and communication were lost approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi," it added.
Following the incident, the authorities coordinated a search-and-rescue operation at sea through various agencies to locate the missing aircraft, the statement said.
There were five crew members on board the aircraft, according to the statement. A multi-agency search and rescue operation is currently underway at sea.
The 27 years old B737-4M0BDSF aircraft (ex-ASL Airlines Belgium) is being powered by CFM56-3C1 engines, and was delivered to Aeroflot on 27 April 1999.
