Small plane crashes into Beijing’s tallest tower in shocking incident

A serious aviation incident has been reported in Beijing, where a small plane crashed into the tallest building in the Chinese capital, in one of the cities considered among the safest in the world.

Dramatic footage has circulated on social media showing debris falling from the 109-story CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun. The same footage also appears to show part of the plane’s tail, as well as the shattered window of a taxi on the ground.

CNN reported seeing people evacuated from the skyscraper gathered on the streets near the building’s entrance, while fire trucks, police cars and an ambulance were at the scene.

Photographs published online, showing the plane’s registration code, appear to indicate that it was a locally manufactured light sport aircraft, a Sunward SA 60L Aurora, owned by a local general aviation company.

Unverified flight data from Flightradar24, shared online, appears to suggest that the aircraft had followed a severely deviated flight path.

Since May 1, Beijing has effectively been drone-free under sweeping new regulations. Under these measures, residents are not allowed to buy, rent or use drones without government approval within the city’s broad jurisdiction.