KARACHI (Kashmir English): A K2 Airways cargo aircraft carrying five crew members disappeared from the radar en route from Sharjah to Karachi over the Arabian Sea.
A large-scale search and rescue operation, including the participation of Pakistan’s military as well as its civilian authorities, is currently ongoing.
According to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), “Boeing 737-400” cargo aircraft experienced an issue with their navigational system when approaching Pakistani airspace at 9:18 pm (PST) on Tuesday. As soon as they got into touch with them, air traffic controllers working at the Karachi Area Control Centre started helping them out.
Just after three minutes, i.e., by 9:21 pm, things turned dramatically worse for the passengers, as radar showed the plane quickly dropping in altitude and changing direction abruptly. At this point, both radar and radio communications were also cut off. The incident happened around 287 kilometres (155 nautical miles) West Of Karachi.
What happened to the aircraft?
Preliminary data from flight-tracking service Flightradar24 shows that the plane had dramatic altitudes before losing contact.
Data indicates the craft first lost altitude but then climbed and went into a steep dive. That last known location put the aircraft at just 1,100 feet above mean sea level with an extremely high descent rate of 22,400 feet every minute.
“There are data that point towards some sort of crash,” the flight-tracking service said on Wednesday. “But what happened exactly remains unclear.”
Did he have a technical problem? Officials confirmed that the pilot had mentioned a problem with his navigation system before losing contact.
“Flightradar24 noted that the aircraft was experiencing some Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference shortly after departing from Sharjah, as has been seen with other aircraft flying in this area,” according to the statement.
“This navigation data did return to normal once the aircraft exited the affected area, though, and at no point during our investigation have we linked any GNSS interference to this incident.”
