The plane hit the tallest tower in Beijing, but there is not even a hole to be seen | Today’s news
A small plane crashed into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper four days ago, but today there is not even a hole to confirm what happened. And as far as the Chinese authorities were concerned, there was only a 60-word report in the state-run Beijing Daily, which gave only the basic facts.
The crash killed the pilot, the only person on board, and injured 13 others. But there are no reports of why or how Friday’s crash, just a few kilometers from Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party headquarters, happened.
According to a BBC report, the collision left holes in the side of the 109-story CITIC tower. However, it has been boarded up since then.
Interestingly, there is not even a virtual record of the incident on the Internet, as the dramatic footage of the crash was allegedly scrubbed.
Beijing has some of the strictest airspace controls in the world, with even strict drone regulations. Speculation abounds as to how the plane managed to penetrate the city.
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Light aircraft operations landed in Beijing
The plane that crashed into the skyscraper was a two-seat, single-engine Aurora SA60L made by China’s Sunward Aircraft, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.
With a length of 6.9 m and a wingspan of 8.6 m, it is intended for tourism, aerial photography and recreational aviation, the BBC reported.
Airlines have reportedly been asked to suspend light aircraft operations, at least three of them told the BBC, without elaborating because they have been instructed not to discuss the matter.
The airline companies, the BBC reported, did not want to say much about the incident.
“We were told not to talk about it. Please ask others,” a lady from the Beijing Aviation Training Institute told the BBC.
Another firm in Chengdu also declined to specify which authority issued the instruction.
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No photos, videos from CITIC Tower
CITIC Tower is shaped like a Chinese wine vessel and attracts local crowds. It is considered a good luck charm and young people often wish it luck – from exam results to employment. They either stop to look at him or share photos of him online along with a quick prayer.
As China applies strict censorship, not only have photos and videos of Friday’s crash been scrubbed, but unrelated photos and memes of the skyscraper have also been removed from Chinese social media platforms.
The censorship machinery kicked in so quickly and thoroughly this time, perhaps because the Beijing leadership is “still not sure exactly what happened,” wrote Manya Koetse, who runs the Eye on Digital China correspondent.
“This is a very unusual incident,” she said, adding that it called into question the government’s powers and threatened “important party narratives”.
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What do the analysts say?
Above Beijing’s political core is a permanent no-fly zone of roughly 100 km2 (39 sq mi) – covering Tiananmen Square and Zhongnanhai, the heavily guarded compound where the country’s top officials live and work.
China analyst Bill Bishop described the incident as a “massive security breach” and wrote on X: “Just seconds into the flight and (the crash) could have been at Zhongnanhai… (it would have been) an earthquake in Beijing’s security system.”
Drone regulations have also recently been tightened due to safety 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, significantly larger than most drones, was able to fly over a large part of the city and get quite close to Zhongnanhai is both a political embarrassment and a major security flaw,” said Raymond Kuo, vice president of research at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.
It could have been pilot error or mechanical failure, Kuo said, adding that it “potentially could have been intentional.”
