Search operation continues for missing cargo plane off Karachi coast

• Navy, Air Force join rescue operation.
• Contact lost shortly after nightfall Wednesday.
• Company office sealed to preserve records.

KARACHI: Search and rescue operations continued on Wednesday for a missing private cargo aircraft off the Karachi coast, sources told Truth Wire, with naval and aerial assets deployed after contact with the plane was lost during its flight.

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said late on Tuesday that the cargo aircraft, carrying five crew members, went missing around 155 nautical miles west of Karachi after losing contact while flying from Sharjah.

According to sources, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force and merchant vessels are participating in the ongoing search and rescue operation, with maritime and aerial resources deployed to locate the missing aircraft.

The Pakistan Navy has dispatched the warship PNS Zulfiqar to join the search and rescue effort, while a Pakistan Air Force Saab surveillance aircraft is also taking part in the operation, according to sources. A Navy ATR aircraft has flown out from Turbat to assist, joining the wider search from the air.

PNS Hunain has also been dispatched to the affected area to take part in the search and rescue operation, sources said.

In a statement, the cargo company’s spokesperson said the aircraft was travelling from Sharjah to Karachi when contact with air traffic control was lost at 9:21pm on Wednesday.

The company identified the five crew members as pilot Muhammad Rizwan Idris, first officer Faisal Mehmood, loadmaster Muhammad Taufiq, engineer Arif Siddiqui, and Muhammad Hamid.

Meanwhile, sources said the cargo company’s office at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport had been sealed to preserve records following the incident.

A day earlier, flight tracking data showed the aircraft, flight TA1732, was cruising normally at an altitude of 35,000 feet and a speed of 790 kilometres per hour when it encountered unusual circumstances. The data indicated that the aircraft abruptly made a U-turn before entering a rapid descent.

Within five minutes, it had lost approximately 34,000 feet of altitude, eventually dropping to 1,100 feet while slowing to 211 kilometres per hour before disappearing from radar, FlightRadar data showed.

The pilot of the missing cargo aircraft did not issue a Mayday distress call before contact was lost, an air traffic controller told Truth Wire, adding that the crew may not have had time to do so given how quickly the emergency appears to have unfolded.

In 2010, a Russian cargo aircraft carrying eight people crashed in a residential area of Karachi shortly after taking off from the city’s airport.

The aircraft was heading to Khartoum in Sudan when it went down, killing all those on board.

The crash sparked fires in nearby buildings and triggered a large-scale rescue operation. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control minutes after departure, according to officials at the time.