A small plane slammed into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper four days ago, but today, there’s not even a hole to corroborate what happened. And as for the Chinese authorities, there was only a 60-word report in the state-owned Beijing Daily detailing only the basic facts.
The crash killed the pilot, the only person on board, and wounded 13 others. However, there is no news of why or how the Friday crash, only a few kilometres from Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party’s headquarters, happened.
According to a BBC report, the collision left holes on the side of the 109-storey CITIC Tower. However, it has since been boarded up.
Interestingly, there isn’t even a virtual record of the incident online, as the dramatic footage of the crash was reportedly scrubbed.
has some of the world’s strictest airspace controls, with even tight regulations on drones. Speculation is thus mounting as to how the aircraft managed to penetrate the city.
Light aircraft ops grounded in Beijing
The plane that crashed into the skyscraper was a two-seat, single-engine Aurora SA60L manufactured by the Chinese company Sunward Aircraft, according to the flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
At 6.9m long and with a wingspan of 8.6m, it is designed for touring, aerial photography, and recreational aviation, the BBC said.
Aviation firms have reportedly been asked to suspend light aircraft operations, at least three of them told the BBC, without elaborating, since they had been instructed not to discuss the matter.
The aviation firms, the BBC said, did not wish to say much about the incident.
“We were told to not speak about it. Please ask others,” a lady at a flight training institute in Beijing told the BBC.
Another firm in Chengdu also declined to specify which authority issued the instruction.
No photos, videos of CITIC Tower
The CITIC Tower is shaped like a Chinese wine vessel and is a local crowd-puller. It is seen as a lucky charm, and young people often wish upon it for good fortune – from exam results to jobs. They either stop by to see it or share photos of it online, along with a quick prayer.
However, since exercises strict censorship, not only were the photos and videos of the Friday crash scrubbed, but also unrelated photographs and memes of the skyscraper were removed from Chinese social media platforms.
The censorship machinery kicked in so quickly and thoroughly this time, possibly because Beijing’s leadership is “still not exactly sure what happened”, wrote Manya Koetse, who runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter.
“This is a highly unusual incident,” she said, adding that it calls into question government competence and threatens “important party narratives”.
What do analysts say?
There is a permanent no-fly zone of roughly 100 sq km (39 sq miles) over Beijing’s political core — covering and Zhongnanhai, the heavily guarded compound where the country’s top leaders live and work.
China analyst Bill Bishop described the incident as a “massive security breach,” and wrote on X: “Not many more seconds of flying and [the crash] could have been at Zhongnanhai… [That would have been] an earthquake in Beijing’s security system.”
Regulations on drones were also tightened recently due to security concerns. The city now requires drones to be registered before they can be brought in and out of Beijing.
“The fact that a small plane, considerably larger than most drones, was able to fly across much of the city and get quite close to Zhongnanhai is both politically embarrassing and a major security lapse,” said Raymond Kuo, vice-president of research at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.
It could have been a case of pilot error or a mechanical failure, Kuo said, while adding that it could also “potentially have been intentional”.
