A small plane crashed into the tallest skyscraper in China’s capital on Friday afternoon, leaving one person dead and 13 others injured, as per a report by CNN. But what caught even more attention than the crash itself was what happened next.
Within hours, videos of the incident disappeared from Chinese social media, official news outlets stayed silent, and online searches returned almost nothing, the report added. For many people in Beijing, it was as if the crash had never happened.
The aircraft struck the upper floors of the 109-storey CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, during the city’s evening rush hour. The 528-metre building has been Beijing’s tallest since 2018 and is home to state-owned CITIC Group, tech giant Alibaba and several international businesses. Foreign embassies, including those of the UK and Vietnam, are also located nearby.
Videos shared online before they were removed reportedly showed the small aircraft striking the building and sending glass and debris from the aircraft onto the streets. Workers evacuated the tower while emergency services, including fire trucks, police vehicles and ambulances, reached the scene.
Information Came Slowly
For nearly a day, there was no official confirmation about what had happened or how many people had been hurt.
On Saturday afternoon, media linked to the Beijing government said a “single-engine double-seat light sports aircraft collided with a high-rise building in flight,” confirming that the pilot, who was the only person on board, had died while 13 people on the ground were injured. Authorities added that the incident was being “investigated.”
Officials have not said whether the crash was accidental or intentional.
Questions Around The Flight
The crash has also raised questions about how the aircraft managed to fly over Beijing, one of the world’s most tightly controlled airspaces.
Flying light aircraft over the Chinese capital requires permission from both the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. Beijing also introduced new rules last month that effectively banned casual recreational flying and consumer drones.
Images circulating online before being deleted appeared to identify the aircraft as a domestically built Sunward SA60L Aurora owned by a local aviation company that offers pilot training, recreational flights and aerial photography.
CNN also reported that unverified flight data from Flightradar24 appeared to show the aircraft flying far off its expected route after taking off from Beijing’s Shifosi Airport.
Online Posts Vanished
The quick removal of videos and posts has once again highlighted China’s strict control over information.
Beijing resident Anna, who asked to be identified only by her first name, told CNN she rushed to the area after seeing the news online.
“I was just like two stops away… and I saw this post… but it gets deleted soon. So I just came here.”
Rads around the skyscraper reportedly remained closed on Saturday, with police restricting access to people working in the area.
