ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Navy and civilian authorities expanded their search Wednesday for a cargo plane feared to have crashed into the Arabian Sea after it disappeared from radar and lost contact with air traffic control late Tuesday night while flying from Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, to the southern port city of Karachi.

The Karachi-bound aircraft, a Boeing 737-400 freighter operated by the private carrier K2 Airways, reported a navigational system issue while en route with five people on board. According to the Pakistan Airports Authority, the aircraft was being guided by the Karachi Area Control Centre after reporting the fault at 9:18 p.m. local time. Three minutes later, at 9:21 p.m., the aircraft was observed on radar making a rapid descent accompanied by a sharp change in heading. Radar contact and communication were lost shortly afterward, approximately 155 nautical miles, or 287 kilometers, west of Karachi.

Preliminary flight-tracking data reviewed by multiple outlets showed the aircraft losing nearly 1,525 meters, or roughly 5,000 feet, of altitude in under a minute before climbing back approximately 1,830 meters, or about 6,000 feet, over the following 30 seconds. It then entered what flight-tracking service Flightradar24 described as a final, near-vertical descent from a height of 11,140 meters, or about 36,550 feet. The aircraft’s last transmitted position placed it at 335 meters, or roughly 1,100 feet, descending at 22,400 feet per minute, or approximately 400 kilometers per hour, a rate of descent consistent with the plane entering the water.

The Pakistan Airports Authority said it activated its Rescue Coordination Center immediately after contact was lost and launched a coordinated multi-agency search-and-rescue operation at sea. According to officials familiar with the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the possible crash, the Pakistan Navy frigate PNS Zulfiqar was dispatched to the area where contact with the aircraft was lost. The Pakistan Air Force also deployed aircraft to assist in the search, while a separate Pakistan Navy ATR aircraft took off from the southwestern city of Turbat to join the effort. A merchant vessel operated by the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation also joined the multi-agency search, officials said.

As of Wednesday, officials said the vast search area across the Arabian Sea, combined with rough monsoon-season seas, was posing significant challenges to the rescue operation. No wreckage or survivors had been located as of the latest updates.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sympathy for the families of the five crew members and directed the government to deploy all available resources to the search effort, according to a statement from his office. Sharif said he felt “deep sorrow, grief, and regret over the tragic incident in which a private cargo aircraft flying from Sharjah to Karachi crashed into the Arabian Sea and went missing,” extending his condolences to the crew’s families and instructing the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force to intensify search-and-rescue operations using all available resources.

In a statement, K2 Airways said search-and-rescue operations were continuing to be conducted by Pakistani authorities and that the company was fully cooperating with aviation officials. The airline identified the five crew members as Captain Muhammad Rizwan Idris, the pilot in command; First Officer Faisal Jatoi; flight engineers Muhammad Hamid and Muhammad Arif Siddiqui; and aircraft loader Muhammad Taufiq Khan. “We continue to pray earnestly for the safety of our colleagues,” the airline said.

K2 Airways, headquartered in Karachi, is a private cargo airline established in May 2018 under an airline charter license issued by the Pakistani government. According to flight-tracking service ch-aviation, the aircraft involved, registered as AP-BOI, was approximately 27 years old and had flown for six different operators over its service history. It was originally delivered to Russia’s Aeroflot as a passenger aircraft in 1999, later flew for Indonesia’s Garuda Indonesia, and was converted into a freighter in 2012 for operation by Belgium’s TNT Airways and later ASL Airlines. The aircraft was withdrawn from service in June 2023 and parked in France for roughly 10 months before being reactivated by Irish leasing company AerCap in April 2024. It was subsequently placed back into storage, first in Jakarta and later in Karachi, before entering service with K2 Airways in December 2024. The aircraft was the only plane in K2 Airways’ fleet.

Flight-tracking data indicated the aircraft experienced GNSS, or satellite navigation, interference shortly after takeoff, consistent with other aircraft operating in the region at the time, resulting in temporarily degraded navigation data near Sharjah. According to Flightradar24, standard ADS-B tracking data resumed once the aircraft exited the area affected by that interference, though the cause of the aircraft’s subsequent rapid descent and loss of contact remains under investigation.

Aviation expert Imran Aslam told local broadcaster ARY News late Tuesday that it remained unclear what caused the aircraft to disappear from radar. He said that even if the plane had suffered an engine failure, it would normally have continued gliding rather than descending suddenly, adding that the exact cause would only become clear once investigators had gathered further evidence. Pakistan’s Bureau of Air Safety Investigation is expected to lead the formal investigation into the aircraft’s disappearance.

There has been no official confirmation of the aircraft’s ultimate fate as of this report, though Pakistani officials, including the prime minister’s office, have described the incident using language consistent with a crash into the sea. If a crash is ultimately confirmed, it would mark Pakistan’s first major civilian aviation disaster since May 2020, when a Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying 98 people crashed into a densely populated neighborhood near Karachi’s airport while attempting to land, killing all but one of the 99 people on board. A subsequent government investigation into that crash concluded that human error by the pilots and air traffic controllers had caused the accident.

As search operations continue across the Arabian Sea, Pakistani authorities have not provided a timeline for when the search might conclude or when further details about the crew members’ fate might be confirmed. Officials have said the difficult monsoon sea conditions and the scale of the search area remain the primary obstacles facing rescue teams as the operation moves into its second day.

Women investors accounted for over 13% of crypto futures traders and their average leverage remained lower than that of male traders, according to a release by Giottus analysing its 1.3-million-strong customer base during the September 2025-May 2026 period.

The release further said that women traders also showed a stronger preference for XRP, Bitcoin, and gold-linked assets.

Also Read |Quant Small Cap Fund exits RIL, 8 others; raises exposure to two Adani stocks. Check full list Nearly half of the country’s crypto futures participation now comes from tier-2 cities even as futures trading has overtaken spot volumes. Crypto Futures contributed 57.22% of total platform trading volume, ahead of spot at 42.78%. At the same time, 48% of futures participants came from tier-2 cities, compared with 31% from tier-1 locations, and 21% from other locations.

The figures point to a broader shift in Indian crypto trading behaviour. Leveraged products (like futures) are no longer driven mainly by metro traders. The smaller-city participation is now emerging as a major force in crypto derivatives activity.

The report also showed strong acceleration in user growth during 2026. Futures participation grew 42.5% in February. It rose another 28.5% in March. April recorded 35.3% growth. In May, it was 30.3%.
Futures users currently account for only 24% of Giottus’ active user base. The data suggests there is still considerable expansion headroom within existing platform users.“India’s crypto participation story is becoming geographically broader. We are seeing increasing engagement from smaller cities in products that were once viewed as niche or high-complexity,” said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Giottus.

The dataset further showed unusually high engagement intensity among active traders. Average trades per active user peaked at 330 trades in January 2026. Even after moderation in April, users still averaged more than 51 trades a month. The figure was 45 in May.

Another major behavioural trend emerged in trading preferences. Bitcoin and Ethereum together accounted for only 15.35% of total Futures volume during the review period.

Ethereum accounted for 7.07% of the traded Futures volume. Solana accounted for 5.76% and XRP contributed 5.24%.

The figures suggest Indian retail traders are increasingly moving beyond Bitcoin exposure into higher-volatility altcoin opportunities. Trading behaviour appears to be becoming more tactical and event-driven.

Also Read | Smallcap funds deliver 22% average return in 3 months. Is it time to invest, hold or rebalance?

Tamil Nadu emerged as the dominant regional market in the dataset. The state contributed 46.6% of all futures traders. It also accounted for 59.26% of the platform’s total Futures trading volume. Kerala contributed 10.23% of the total trading volume.

The report also showed relatively balanced market positioning among traders. Long positions accounted for 52.79% of trades and short positions accounted for 47.21%.

Average leverage among Giottus Futures traders stood at 10x. More than 30% of trades used leverage above 10x. Despite that, monthly liquidation ratios ranged between 0.55% and 2.52% during the review period.

“The liquidation trends are important because they suggest participation is not entirely speculative or reckless. Users are showing greater awareness around position sizing and risk management while using leveraged products,” Vikram said.

The report further showed that Indian retail traders were most active between 7 pm and 10 pm. The lowest trading activity was recorded between 3 am and 6 am. The pattern reflects post-work retail participation and overlap with US market hours.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Nunn says the key to building up savings is to automate putting money aside.

This means regular saving will stop being a decision or action you have to keep taking – and putting off.

“If you’re able to carve out a little bit and put it somewhere else where you won’t have access to it and be able to spend it, I think that’s the easiest way to start having a saving mindset,” he says.

That could mean setting up a direct debit from your current account to a savings account, organising cash into different envelopes or using round-up tools that put spare change aside when you spend.

Nunn recommends “saving little, saving early and saving regularly”.

He admits he “hates budgeting and always has” so he says he looks at his current account as soon as he gets paid and decides how much he wants to move into savings. “Do it as soon as you can,” he adds.

As well as savings, he recommends having an emergency fund for surprise bills like a broken boiler or car repairs. How much you need in the fund depends on your circumstances but he advises having one to three months’ salary set aside if you can.

Meanwhile, as the new AI boom takes hold, the tale of who gets to stay in San Francisco and who doesn’t is told by its residents.

Two San Francisco families with school-aged children, who both asked for anonymity to protect their privacy, recently succeeded in buying move-in-ready single-family homes to meet their desperate needs for more space – but only one was able to do so in the city.

That family was able to purchase in the desirable family-friendly neighbourhood where they had been long-term renters after one parent, who works at OpenAI, sold some company shares last October, giving the family the financial boost needed to buy in an all-cash offer.

The couple say they feel “conflicted and self-conscious” that it is AI money that has made it possible. “We’re not ostentatious people,” they add. “We’ve just done what we can with the opportunity.”

In contrast, the other family, which doesn’t derive its income from AI or the tech world, had to instead move to a more suburban Bay Area town to the north.

Their new home, bought in part with a mortgage, includes a pool and extra land.

It is a different kind of life, notes the mother, and they have mostly adapted now – though it involves a long commute for her husband, who has a senior government job in San Francisco, and they still have “what if” moments.

“We wouldn’t have left if we could have afforded to stay,” she reflects. “It kind of sucks and I do get a little salty seeing all this extra AI money squeeze everyone else out.”

The Duboce Triangle flat, for the record, and according to its listing agent, sold for $3.2m – $200,000 over the asking price. Whether the deal included AI stock is confidential.

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