Pakistan recovers more cargo plane debris from Arabian Sea as search for missing crew enters 3rd day

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistan navy’s search teams recovered additional debris from a cargo plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea earlier this week, and investigators will analyze the wreckage as the search for the aircraft’s five missing crew members entered its third day Friday.

The Pakistan Airports Authority said in a post on X that search-and-rescue operations by the Pakistan navy and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency remained underway in deep waters, with aircraft and other assets deployed in a coordinated effort to locate the missing crew.

The authority did not provide additional details, saying further updates would be shared later. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The cargo plane, operated by Karachi-based private carrier K2 Airways, disappeared from radar late Tuesday while flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi, Pakistan, after reporting a malfunction in its navigation system.

The Navy recovered the first pieces of wreckage Wednesday about 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the coastal town of Ormara on Pakistan’s southwestern Makran coast in Balochistan province. Officials have said the aircraft’s main fuselage and all five crew members remain missing.

As the search entered a third day, relatives of the crew waited anxiously for news, clinging to hope that their loved ones might somehow be found alive despite the odds.

Nazim Jatoi, the father of co-pilot Faisal Jatoi, urged the government to enlist companies with expertise in locating aircraft black boxes in deep water, saying the flight data and cockpit voice recorders would be crucial to determining what caused the crash.

“The wreckage recovered so far is the lighter debris that remained afloat and was spotted during the search,” Jatoi told The Associated Press. “The government should make every effort to locate the heavier sections of the aircraft that sank after the crash.”

Jatoi said he feared officials could conclude there was little chance of finding survivors if the operation continued for a week without results, but urged authorities to continue efforts until the crew members are found. “This is our request to the government, and this is our humble appeal,” he said.

Family members of the plane’s flight engineer, Muhammad Arif Siddiqui, also quietly sat outside their home in Karachi, receiving relatives as they awaited news.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to use all available resources to locate the missing crew members, while K2 Airways said it is extending full cooperation to civil aviation authorities investigating the crash.

The search has been complicated by rough seas, strong winds and shifting ocean currents, which can scatter floating debris over a wide area and make it more difficult to pinpoint the crash site.

The Pakistan Airports Authority has said radar data indicated the aircraft rapidly descended before radio and radar contact were lost at about 9:21 p.m. Tuesday, about 287 kilometers (178 miles) west of Karachi.

Pakistan has experienced several fatal air crashes in recent decades.