Emergencies: Authorities confirmed plane crash in Beijing

The district did not name the tower where the accident occurred – Citic Tower, also known as China Zun – in its statement. Instead, there was general talk of a high-rise building on the eastern third ring of the motorway, where the skyscraper is located.

The accident site is very close to the headquarters of Chinese state television CCTV, known for its square architecture as the “big pants,” and just a few kilometers from the famous Forbidden City and the government complex and center of power of the Communist Party, Zhongnanhai.

Censorship on social media

The incident caused a huge stir. According to the announcement, the machine crashed into the high-rise building on Friday at 5:55 p.m. (local time). On site, the police had cordoned off streets around the city’s tallest building at 528 meters. Numerous onlookers looked at the house facade, where a hole could be seen in the upper part.

Censorship quickly intervened on social media and removed posts as well as photos and videos of the incident. China’s state media did not report the crash on Friday. However, there were numerous photographs circulating on western portals of the fallen wreckage of the plane, the fire department extinguishing the fire and people who filmed the evacuation of the building shortly after the impact.

Open questions remain

It is still unclear why the machine crashed into the building. The authorities also did not provide any information about the identity of the pilot. According to media reports, he took off from an airfield in the far east of Beijing and flew towards the city center. The registration number B-12PP indicated a Chinese-made Sunward SA 60L Aurora light sport aircraft.

The incident caused great astonishment, also because Beijing’s city center is considered a no-fly zone. Flights must first be approved by the authorities. The city’s security authorities are now looking particularly closely at drones, whose use and ownership the city government recently tightened the rules for.