A search and rescue operation was launched last night.

15:53, Wed, Jul 8, 2026 Updated: 17:33, Wed, Jul 8, 2026

The search and rescue operation

The search and rescue operation found the plane (Image: PAKISTAN AIRPORTS AUTHORITY)

Pakistani authorities have issued a major update following the launch of a search and rescue operation for a plane that mysteriously vanished off the coast of the country last night. The wreckage ​of the K2 ‌Airways cargo Boeing 737 ​that lost contact ​with air traffic control ⁠on its ​way to Karachi ​has been found, according to Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA).

A search is now ongoing to find the five crew members that were onboard of the cargo aircraft. The wreckage was found in the Arabian Sea, off the town of Ormara on Pakistan's southern coast.

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The PAA said in a message that, "after 12 hours of search and rescue operations in deep sea," the K2 wreckage was "successfully located and identified".

It added: "The wreckage was recovered from 53 NM South of ORMARA."

Various air and sea borne assets have been involved in the search to locate the wreckage and "efforts are underway to find the missing crew members", the message also read.

According to FlightRadar24, authorities launched a search effort for the K2 Airways Cargo 737 AP-BOI "after the flight did not land as scheduled in Karachi". It was en route from Sharjah (UAE) to Karachi when contact was lost.

The live air traffic website said data indicated "a loss of altitude, followed by a climb, and then a second, sudden and dramatic loss of altitude".

Cargo plane wreckage

Pakistan Navy personnel examine the wreckage of the cargo plane. (Image: Pakistan Navy.)

It also added "the final received data point from the aircraft was at 16:21 UTC, placing the aircraft at 1,100 ft AMSL with a reported vertical rate of -22,400 feet per minute". It is not yet known what caused the aircraft to disappear.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif "expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic incident of the private cargo plane (K2 Airways) en route from Sharjah to Karachi crashing and going missing in the Arabian Sea," a message shared on social media by the government read.

Prime Minister Sharif also directed the government to deploy all available resources for the search effort.