Chinese officials announced on Thursday that the 66-year-old pilot who crashed his plane into a Beijing skyscraper on June 26 had intentions of suicide, based on entries found in his diary. Thirteen additional individuals sustained injuries during the incident.
The crash took place at the CITIC Tower, a 109-story building in downtown Beijing, which is sometimes called “China Dung” due to its resemblance to an ancient drinking vessel known as a Zun. Finished in 2018, it stands as the tallest structure in Beijing and is expected to hold that title for the foreseeable future.
Around 6 PM local time last Friday, a small two-seater training plane crashed into the CITIC Tower, smashing through its glass exterior. Bystanders were left in shock as the damaged aircraft spiraled down onto the street below.
According to a statement from the Chaoyang district government in Beijing, the plane initially took off without issues from an airport in the Pinggu district. However, it later strayed from designated airspace and lost radio contact. Prior to the crash, the pilot had flown several training sessions that day without any reported problems.
Following an extensive investigation, the Asayo City government concluded that the incident was “an endangering public safety caused by personal reasons.” This was announced on Thursday after their findings.
The pilot, who was identified by the surname Liu, was a divorced 66-year-old who lived alone and maintained a diary. He obtained his sport pilot license in 2021 and later acquired a full private pilot license in 2024.
Liu’s diary reportedly contained numerous mentions of suicidal thoughts. Officials noted he suffered from insomnia and anxiety, but they provided little information regarding his background or mental state leading up to the crash.
This incident has caused significant embarrassment for the Chinese government, especially given the highly regulated airspace over the capital. Regulations are set to tighten further on May 1, essentially banning drone usage without explicit government approval. Witnesses stated that it’s particularly unusual to see an aircraft flying directly over a city.
In a somewhat familiar pattern that echoed the early days of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, Chinese authorities initially dismissed the incident as a mere emergency and began removing images and videos of the crash from tightly controlled social media platforms.
State media reported minimal coverage the day after the crash, despite being located just across the street from the CITIC Tower. Confused social media users pointed out that some of the images, which were later removed, were so clear that they revealed the plane’s registration number, enabling identification even before the government confirmed the crash.
