KARACHI (Web Desk) – The family of K2 Airways co-pilot Faisal Jatoi spent another day waiting for news on Thursday as search teams continued a deep-sea operation following the crash of a cargo plane into the Arabian Sea off Pakistan’s southern coast.
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Jatoi was among five crew members aboard a K2 Airways Boeing 737-400 freighter that crashed on Tuesday night while flying from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to Karachi.
His father-in-law, Ghulam Nabi Bahrani, said the family first realised something was wrong after repeated attempts to contact Jatoi failed. Searching online, they discovered reports of the aircraft crash.
“That moment felt like doomsday for us,” Bahrani said.
Jatoi has a wife and their two-year-old son.
According to Bahrani, the 27-year-old Boeing 737-400 cargo aircraft had remained in Sharjah for about 10 days after developing a technical issue. The aircraft was reportedly awaiting a replacement spare part from the United States before being cleared to resume its flight to Pakistan.
The Pakistan Airports Authority said the aircraft reported a navigational problem at approximately 9:18 p.m. while approaching Karachi. Flight tracking data indicated irregular altitude changes before the aircraft rapidly descended into the Arabian Sea.
Search teams located the wreckage about 53 nautical miles (98 kilometres) south of Ormara on Wednesday. Pakistan Navy and maritime security authorities are continuing efforts to recover the aircraft’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which are considered crucial to determining the cause of the crash.
K2 Airways confirmed that five people were on board, including two pilots, two engineers and one support staff member. Authorities have not yet officially declared their status.
Deep-sea recovery presents major challenge
A Pakistani aviation expert said the recovery mission could become one of the country’s most technically demanding underwater search operations in recent years.
The wreckage is believed to be lying in waters between 2,500 and 3,500 metres deep, where strong currents, low visibility, rugged seabed conditions and changing sea states significantly complicate recovery operations.
Investigators are expected to rely heavily on the aircraft’s flight recorders to establish the sequence of events leading to the crash once they are recovered.
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