India, July 8 -- A cargo aircraft carrying five crew members has gone missing off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan, triggering a large-scale search and rescue operation in the Arabian Sea, Pakistani aviation authorities said.

The missing aircraft, a K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo plane, was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Karachi when it reported a navigation system malfunction at around 9:18 pm local time. Air traffic controllers guided the aircraft after receiving the alert, but just three minutes later radar showed it making a rapid descent and an abrupt change in direction before communication was lost about 155 nautical miles (around 287 km) west of Karachi.

Pakistan's Airports Authority immediately launched a multi-a...