Small Plane Crashes Into Beijing's Tallest Building, Debris Falls From Sky

A small aircraft crashed into the tallest building of Beijing, with shocking videos circulating on social media on Friday showing the impact of the incident.

Dramatic footage captured by eyewitnesses showed debris falling from the CITIC Tower, the 108-storey skyscraper that is the headquarters of the state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group.

Videos and images also showed a portion of the building damaged, as well as a tail section of the plane and the broken window of a cab on the ground. Two glass panels of the building were seen broken.

今天下午，一架型号为 B-12PP 的国产轻型通航小飞机，撞到了北京第一高楼 - 中国尊 pic.twitter.com/CobNs6fSBA

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The plane crash also resulted in a small fire on the ground, with plumes of smoke seen rising from the site where the plane crashed.

The CITIC Tower, which has 108 floors above ground and seven below, is able to accommodate 12,000 office workers.

According to a report by Reuters citing witnesses, police closed off roads around the skyscraper and prevented people from making videos.

There was heavy police presence at the site of the crash. According to the Reuters report, police also asked people to delete pictures and videos they had taken of the site and the incident. It further stated that Chinese social media had removed the pictures and videos. However, they were available on X at the time of writing this article.

A deeper look into the online images showed that the aircraft, about the size of a car, had a registration code that seemed to point out that it was a domestically manufactured light sport plane named Sunward SA 60L Aurora, CNN reported.

The aircraft is produced by a local general aviation company that offers services including pilot training, personal recreational flights and aerial photography, the CNN report said.

However, no official comment from the company or Chinese authorities was available immediately.

Beijing has banned the flying of drones since May 1 under sweeping new restrictions. Under the new rules, residents cannot fly, rent, or buy drones without government approval.