K2 Airways flight KTA1732 was a scheduled overnight cargo service from Sharjah to Karachi on July 7, 2026, operated by the airline’s sole aircraft, a 27‑year‑old Boeing 737‑4M0 (BDSF) registered AP‑BOI. The aircraft departed Sharjah shortly after 1500 UTC and initially experienced GNSS interference affecting ADS‑B reception, a problem also affecting other aircraft in the region. Once clear of the interference zone, normal ADS‑B tracking resumed as the freighter crossed the Arabian Sea toward Pakistan.

While cruising toward Karachi, the aircraft’s ADS‑B data began showing highly abnormal behavior. Preliminary telemetry indicated a sudden loss of altitude, followed by an unexpected climb, and then a second, catastrophic descent. The final received data point at 16:21 UTC placed AP‑BOI at roughly 1,100 feet above mean sea level, descending at an extreme vertical rate of approximately −22,400 feet per minute and slowing to about 114 knots, a profile consistent with a stall‑induced loss of control. Radar contact and radio communication were lost moments later, approximately 155 nautical miles west of Karachi.

Pakistan’s Airports Authority reported that the crew had earlier advised Karachi ACC of a navigational system issue at 2118 PST. Controllers attempted to guide the aircraft, but by 2121 PST radar showed rapid descent and abrupt heading changes before all contact ceased. A search‑and‑rescue operation was immediately activated, involving multiple maritime agencies, but no wreckage or survivors were initially located. All five crew members were declared missing, and the aircraft was presumed to have crashed into the Arabian Sea close to midnight local time.

AP‑BOI had begun its life as a passenger 737‑400 with Aeroflot in 1999, later flying for Garuda Indonesia, TNT Airways, ASL Airlines Belgium, and FedEx Express before being transferred to AerCap and leased to K2 Airways in October 2024.

Converted to freighter configuration in 2012, it was powered by two CFM56‑3C1 engines and had become the backbone of K2’s cargo operations. The disappearance of flight KTA1732 left the airline without an aircraft and marked the presumed loss of its only operational freighter.

All photos by K2 Airways.

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