China03 July, 20262 min read
Pilot Liu Crashed Into CITIC Tower in Beijing, Authorities Say Personal Reasons
“comprehensive investigation concluded that this was a case of endangering public safety caused by personal reasons”
“Blaming the pilot does not explain the gaps in security, however.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Pilot Liu, 66, a Beijing resident, died after crashing a light aircraft into CITIC Tower. Officials say the crash was caused by personal reasons.
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Crash and stated motive
A 66-year-old pilot died after a small plane crashed into Beijing’s tallest building, the 109-story CITIC Tower, injuring 13 others, according to Chinese authorities and multiple outlets. The Chaoyang district government said the investigation concluded the crash was “a case of endangering public safety caused by personal reasons,” and it said the pilot wrote about “ending his life” in his diary.
UPI reported the pilot was suffering from “chronic insomnia and anxiety,” and it said he lived alone in Beijing’s Chaoyang district and was divorced. The pilot, identified by the surname Liu, took off on a solo flight from an airport in the Pinggu district, and the Chaoyang government said that during his solo flight he “deviated from the designated area and lost contact with the airport.”
Airspace questions and reporting
Several reports tied the incident to tight aviation controls in central Beijing, with the Los Angeles Times saying the crash happened around 6 p.m. as people were leaving work in a downtown skyscraper district. The Los Angeles Times reported that the pilot took off on a solo flight in the two-seat training plane from a general aviation airport in the outskirts of Beijing, and it said he deviated from the designated flying area and contact was lost.
The BBC said videos of the crash at the CITIC Tower had been widely circulated on social media before being scrubbed off the Chinese internet, as authorities investigated what many observers viewed as a “huge security breach.” The BBC also reported that “at least three aviation firms told the BBC that they had been told to suspend light aircraft operations,” following the crash and the subsequent investigation.
Aftermath and possible restrictions
In the days after the June 26 crash, UPI said all references to the crash, video and images were scrubbed from social media in China, while the state media headquarters across the street from the tower did not report anything until the following day. The BBC reported that the pilot had obtained his sport pilot’s licence in 2021 and his private pilot’s licence in 2024, and it said the plane was a two-seat, single-engine Aurora SA60L manufactured by Chinese company Sunward Aircraft.
Separately, Roayah News said some Chinese airlines temporarily suspended the operation of light aircraft after the collision with the 109-story CITIC Tower, citing Bloomberg News and naming Hebei Chuan Aviation and Jianxin General Aviation as companies that suspended all flight operations. Roayah News also said the crash “reviv[ed] discussion about the rules governing aviation in Beijing’s airspace,” and it reported that the incident triggered a broad sell-off in shares of companies tied to the low-altitude aviation sector during Monday’s trading.