Search underway for 737 plane missing in the Indian Ocean

The plane disappeared from radar.

The alert was raised yesterday evening (7 July) as Flightradar24 put out a post saying that the aircraft had been reported missing with data suggesting a possible crash.

Not long after, it was reported that a search and rescue mission was underway to find the aircraft.

An image of the missing aircraft in question. Credit: Adobe Stock.

The plane in question is a Boeing 737-400 belonging to Pakistani cargo airline K2.

Five people were reported to have been onboard the plane.

The plane went missing off the coast of Karachi, its destination, after departing from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan's airport authority said that the plane rapidly descended and lost contact with air traffic controllers on Tuesday at 21:21 local time (17:21 BST).

It had reported a navigation system problem minutes before its descent, the airport authority said.

In preliminary data seen on Flightradar24, the plane recorded a sharp fluctuation in altitude before a steep descent.

As per records, the aircraft is the only plane in the private cargo airline's fleet.

In a statement on Wednesday, K2 Airways identified the five crew members on board the aircraft, and said it was "fully cooperating with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and other government agencies".

The full statement read: "K2 Airways' cargo aircraft Boeing 737-400 Registration AP-BOI, which was going from Sharjah to Karachi last night, lost contact with Air Traffic Control at about 21:21 hours according to Pakistan time.

"Search and Rescue operations are being conducted by the concerned organizations."

"We continue to pray, earnestly, for the safety of our colleagues," the statement added.

It named the crew as Mohammad Rizwan Idrees (Pilot in Command), Faisal Mehmood (First Officer), Muhammad Toufique Khan (Load Master), Arif Siddiqui (Engineer), Mohammad Hamid (Engineer).

The navy and air force have been deployed to search for the missing aircraft.