Pakistan Navy K2 Airways Cargo Plane Crash Arabian Sea Missing Crew Debris

Pakistan’s Navy has recovered more debris from a cargo plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea earlier this week, as search teams entered the third day of efforts to locate the aircraft’s five missing crew members. Authorities said the newly recovered wreckage will be examined as investigators continue to probe what caused the crash.

The K2 Airways cargo plane disappeared from radar on Tuesday night while flying from Sharjah in the UAE to Karachi after reporting a navigation system malfunction. While floating debris has been recovered about 100 kilometres off Pakistan’s Makran coast, the aircraft’s main fuselage and all five crew members remain missing, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority.

As hopes of finding survivors fade, families of the missing crew have appealed to the government not to scale back the operation.

Nazim Jatoi, the father of co-pilot Faisal Jatoi, urged authorities to bring in specialist companies capable of locating the aircraft’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders in deep water, saying they would be crucial in determining what happened.

“The wreckage recovered so far is the lighter debris that remained afloat,” he told AP. “The government should make every effort to locate the heavier sections of the aircraft that sank after the crash.”

He also appealed for the search to continue until all crew members are found.

The Pakistan Airports Authority said naval and maritime search teams, backed by aircraft, continue to scan deep waters for the missing plane.

Officials said radar data showed the aircraft rapidly lost altitude before contact was lost at around 9.21 pm on Tuesday, roughly 287 kilometres west of Karachi.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to use all available resources in the search, while K2 Airways said it is fully cooperating with investigators.

The operation has been hampered by rough seas, strong winds and shifting ocean currents, making it difficult to locate the submerged wreckage and the missing crew.

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