Small Plane Strikes Beijing Skyscraper

A small plane crashed into the tallest skyscraper in Beijing today. Video shows pieces of the plane falling into the street below and a small hole in the side of the building.

突发，6月26日傍晚，北京中信大厦（中国尊）被一架小型飞机撞击，原因不明。 pic.twitter.com/Y2DyUHNxnl

— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) June 26, 2026

No one is saying what happened here yet. The plane was apparently used for pilot training east of the city.

Photos posted to social media from the site showed parts of an aircraft that appeared to be a lightweight model with only a few seats, registered to the airline Shuangyue General Aviation, a regional flight training provider. Calls to the company went unanswered.

Data from FlightRadar, a flight tracking website, showed that the plane took off from an airfield in Beijing’s eastern Pinggu district. The plane circled the area before flying west into the city center.

It was unclear if the crash was an accident or intentional. It was also unclear how the pilot was able to fly into the city center apparently unobstructed. Calls to the Civil Aviation Authority of China and a nearby police station in Beijing rang unanswered.

“This aircraft is normally used for pilot training east of Beijing,” said Ian Petchenik, a spokesman for FlightRadar. He said that this flight was “out of character” with those types of flights, adding: “I don’t think we can rule anything out at this point.”

The building was evacuated and at least one street was shut down. Government officials are not answering questions about what happened.

A CNN journalist witnessed people evacuated from the skyscraper gathering on the streets near the entrance, along with firetrucks, police cars and an ambulance.

CNN has not yet received an official response from the authorities. The person who answered the phone at the relevant district branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau told CNN they were “not familiar with the situation.” They then referred CNN to another number but the call went unanswered.

CNN has also reached out to the Beijing Muncipality Government as well as a number listed for the aircraft’s owner for information on the incident.

CNN notes that Beijing stopped allowing residents of the city to buy or fly drones on May 1. Some additional photos.

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

Not surprisingly, information about the incident is being blocked on Chinese social media sites.

The word “Beijing” appears exactly once in the top 50 trending topics on Weibo right now, and it’s about a toddler falling off a hospital bed. The CITIC Tower aircraft incident, now being covered by mainstream media worldwide, is the 6.26 incident that shall not be mentioned.…

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) June 26, 2026

And in person, police are discouraging people from taking pictures.

Police prevented passers-by from taking pictures and asked others to delete images while ushering crowds away from the scene.

A police officer also told journalists to leave the scene. When one asked why they had to leave, the officer said: “We all know why.”

The skyscraper, also known as China Zun, is home to Citic Group, one of China’s biggest state-owned financial conglomerates.

A courier who was nearby described the crash as “louder than fireworks”. He told Reuters he had shot a video of the aircraft sticking out of the building but later deleted it because he was scared of getting caught by police.

Obviously this doesn’t look like an accident but I’m not sure we’re going to get the real story out of state media. No doubt they will investigate and find out what happened but that doesn’t mean the rest of the country will be told. I’ll post updates below if anything else is released about a possible motive.

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