Boeing 737 mystery takes painful turn as families learn names of missing crew

Officials are releasing new details about the K2 Airways cargo plane that disappeared off the coast of Pakistan on Tuesday, including the names of the five crew members who remain missing.

The Boeing 737 wason a cargo flightbound for Karachi, Pakistan, when it disappeared around 9:21 p.m.Tuesday evening.It had departed from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates earlier that day, The Associated Press previously reported. 

Officials announced that some wreckage was recovered Wednesday 53 miles south of Ormara, though the search for the missing crew continued into Thursday.

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The crew members have been identified as Capt.Muhammad Rizwan Idris, First Officer Faisal Jatoi, flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui and aircraft loader Muhammad Taufiq Khan, according to the AP’s list of the names published by the airline in a Facebook post.

Ghulam Nabi Bahrani, the father-in-law of co-pilot Faisal Jatoi, told the AP the family was in regular contact with him while he was in Sharjah.

Officials identified the five missing crew members as search teams continued recovery efforts off the coast of Pakistan.(@Pk_PAA_Official via X)

Jatoi had reportedly called his wife shortly before hedeparted the UAEon Tuesday, Bahrani added.

“All we can do is wait andpray for a miracle,” he said.

Military and civilian teams using planes and ships found plane wreckage inthe Arabian Seaafter about 12 hours of searching, Pakistan’s Airports Authority said in a post on X.

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Pakistani authorities launched a search after a K2 Airways cargo plane, pictured above, disappeared Tuesday evening over the Arabian Sea.(gordzam/Alamy)

“Various air and sea borne assets were employed … to locate the wreckage, and efforts are underway to find the missing crew members,” the agency said.

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“Further details will follow as the search-and-rescue operation progresses.”

The plane’s crew had reported a “navigation system problem” shortly before contact was lost roughly 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.

Pakistani authorities said military ships and aircraft joined civilian teams in the search for the missing Boeing 737 freighter.(@Pk_PAA_Official via X)

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Radar data showed the aircraft rapidly descending before it dropped off radar.

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The aircraft —K2 Airways’ only aircraft— was a roughly 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 freighter, according to aviation databases Airfleets.net and Planespotters.net.

The airline, which was established in 2018, said it would “continue to pray earnestly for the safety of our colleagues,” according to a statement obtained by the AP.

The Pakistan Navy deployed the frigate PNS Zulfiqar and other military assets to search the Arabian Sea.(iStock)

Military assets have been deployed to aid the search. 

The PNS Zulfiqar, a frigate of Pakistan’s navy, was diverted to the area where the plane disappeared, and Pakistan’s air force had also deployed aircraftto assist with the search.

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The Associated Press contributed reporting.