K2 Airways 737 Vanishes With 5 Aboard as Radar Data Shows 22,400-Foot-Per-Minute Plunge
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jul 8
K2 Airways 737 Vanishes With 5 Aboard as Radar Data Shows 22,400-Foot-Per-Minute Plunge
3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jul 8
Summary
Five crew members were aboard the K2 Airways cargo jet when it disappeared from radar about 80 minutes into a two-hour Sharjah-to-Karachi flight, triggering a sea search in the Arabian Sea.
Three minutes before contact was lost, the pilots reported a navigational system issue and were being guided by Karachi air traffic control, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority.
Flightradar24 data appeared to show the Boeing 737 drop, climb and then plunge at 22,400 feet per minute—far steeper than the roughly 3,000 feet per minute typical for an airliner at altitude.
K2 Airways said it was cooperating with investigators and identified the five crew; the missing aircraft was the Karachi-based cargo carrier's only plane.
The 27-year-old jet first flew for Aeroflot in 1999 and was converted to a freighter in 2012, as Pakistan again confronts scrutiny over a string of fatal air crashes in recent decades.