K2 Airways flight KTA1732 crash: Everything we know so far

A K2 Airways cargo aircraft operating Flight KTA1732 crashed into the northern Arabian Sea on July 7 after reporting a navigation system issue shortly before losing contact with air traffic control, according to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

As reported by Aviation Week, the aircraft was a Boeing 737-400 converted freighter travelling from Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan.

The airline said there were five crew members onboard, comprising two pilots, one load master and two engineers.

Timeline of the final minutes

The sequence of events released by the PCAA provides the clearest picture yet of the aircraft's final moments.

According to the regulator:

• Flight KTA1732 departed Sharjah for Karachi.
• At 9:18 pm Pakistan time, the crew reported a navigation system issue.
• Air traffic controllers immediately provided guidance to the crew.
• At 9:21 pm, radar showed the aircraft descending rapidly while making a sharp change in heading.
• Communication and radar contact were subsequently lost around 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.

Flight tracking information from Flightradar24, cited by Aviation Week, indicates the aircraft was cruising at approximately 35,000 feet before descending rapidly to 29,475 feet. It then briefly climbed to 36,650 feet within about a minute before entering a steep descent. Tracking data ended shortly afterwards.

Search operation locates wreckage

Pakistani search and rescue teams located the aircraft's wreckage after a 12-hour search operation.

According to the Pakistan Airports Authority, the debris field was found around 53 nautical miles south of Ormara, a coastal town located about 140 nautical miles west of Karachi.

Authorities said search efforts are continuing to locate the missing crew members.

Aircraft had nearly three decades of service

Data from Aviation Week Fleet Discovery shows the aircraft, registered AP-BOI, had been in service for 27 years.

Its operational history includes:

• Entered service with Aeroflot in 1998
• Joined Garuda Indonesia in 2004
• Operated with Garuda until 2011
• Converted into a freighter during 2011 under Celestial Aviation ownership
• Passed through multiple owners and periods of storage
• Entered service with K2 Airways in April 2024

The aircraft had accumulated approximately:

• 46,658 flight hours
• 27,678 flight cycles

Investigation expected to establish cause

Authorities have not identified the cause of the crash. The only issue publicly confirmed so far is the navigation system problem reported by the flight crew shortly before contact was lost.

Investigators are expected to examine flight data, communication records and recovered wreckage to determine the sequence of events that led to the aircraft crashing into the Arabian Sea.