Beijing: In a shocking and spine-chilling incident, a small Chinese aircraft crashed into Beijing’s tallest building on Friday.
Video clips and images shared on social media platforms showed the plane breaking into fragments and in free fall, striking the 109-storey tall CITIC Tower, also called China Zun.
Two of the building’s windows were shattered by the impact, with some images showing a gaping hole. Thick smoke rose from the building’s ground floor, where wreckage was scattered.
A wing of the Sunward SA 60L Aurora aircraft (B-12PP), one of China’s domestically-produced light aviation aircraft, was seen lying at the side of the building. Another photo showed a gaping hole in the skyscraper.
WATCH: Debris falls after small plane crashes into the CITIC Tower in Beijing pic.twitter.com/yJS8zm2TYR
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) June 26, 2026
Just in: a small plane has just crashed into a building in Beijing. pic.twitter.com/UydXiM4gE5 pic.twitter.com/u7lHTRsdpN
— The Great Translation Movement 大翻译运动 (@TGTM_Official) June 26, 2026
The number of casualties is not clear. The building has been evacuated.
Located in Beijing’s central business district of Chaoyang, it’s the third-tallest tower in China, after Shanghai Tower and Ping An Finance Centre in Shenzhen.
According to a local media report, the pilot was flying solo, having taken off from Shifosi Airport half an hour before the incident. The plane was preparing to return to the airport for landing at 5.40 pm (3.10 pm IST), but deviated from the flight path.
Flight monitoring tracked the plane until it lost signal near Beijing’s East Fifth Ring Road area. The pilot could not be reached thereafter.
The cause of the mishap remains under investigation.
