Pilot Liu Crashes Plane into Beijing's 528-Metre CITIC Tower, Killing Self and Injuring 13
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Jul 6
Pilot Liu Crashes Plane into Beijing's 528-Metre CITIC Tower, Killing Self and Injuring 13
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Jul 6
Summary
A 66-year-old pilot surnamed Liu was identified nearly a week after the June 26 crash, with Chaoyang authorities saying he flew into the tower for “personal reasons” after diary entries mentioned suicide.
Flight-tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed the single-engine SA60L deviated from its approved area, lost contact after departing Shifosi airport and could still have reached CITIC Tower within about 2 minutes of its last recorded point.
Reuters also found the plane crossed a Beijing airport arrival corridor shortly before impact, passing within just over 1,000 feet of a Hainan Airlines A330 that then climbed and performed a go-around.
The crash into the 108-storey tower, which killed Liu and injured 13 people on the ground, has intensified questions over how a light aircraft entered tightly controlled central Beijing airspace and prompted some low-altitude aviation operators to suspend services.
How did a small sport plane penetrate Beijing's fortress-like airspace and strike its tallest building?
Will China's indefinite flight ban kill its 'low-altitude economy' dream before it takes off?
If the tower crash was a personal tragedy, why was online discussion immediately scrubbed by censors?
Beijing CITIC Tower Plane Crash: Security Lapse, Nationwide Aviation Grounding, and Implications for China’s Low-Altitude Economy
Overview
On June 26, 2026, a small Chinese-made aircraft piloted by Liu took off from an airfield outside Beijing, breached the city's strict no-fly zone, and deliberately crashed into the 109-story CITIC Tower. Air traffic control tried to contact the pilot before impact but received no response. The pilot, who left a diary suggesting premeditation, was the only person on board. The crash caused visible damage to the tower, widely reported and photographed, but no details were given about casualties inside the building. This incident exposed serious gaps in Beijing's airspace security and led to nationwide grounding of general aviation.