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A small Sunward SA 60L Aurora light-sport aircraft has crashed into the tallest skyscraper in the Chinese capital on Friday, June 26. Dramatic footage has been shared of the incident captured on video, as the p5lane hit the CITIC Tower, which rises 109 stories over Beijing. The tower, also known as China Zun, can now see the tail section of the plane poking out of the window.
Witnesses who saw the incident unfold firsthand have recalled the many inhabitants of the tower being evacuated and congregating on the streets below as fire trucks, ambulances, and police rushed to the scene. CNN reported that the airplane appears to have taken a deviated flight path from what was planned, and other unconfirmed reports from FL360aero have suggested that the transponder was turned off just before the crash.
Drones And Aircraft Are Banned Over The Chinese Capital
New laws have banned drones and aircraft from flying over Beijing, which brought the attention of many inhabitants when the small Sunward aircraft was seen heading towards the city’s tallest building. This raised the alarm, and according to reports, many are questioning how the plane was able to take the flight of around 20 minutes from Beijing Shifosi Airport towards the city center without further action.
On Friday afternoon, the single-engine Sunward SA 60L Aurora with a lone pilot hit the CITIC tower, crashing into the mid-level at what is estimated to be the 65th floor. The plane was damaged extensively on impact and made a hole in the side of the skyscraper. Falling debris from the building and aircraft littered the streets below.
It is believed that the pilot operating the aircraft was Captain Liu Junhua, and while joining the westbound traffic to return to Runway 18 at Shifosi, the plane failed to join the required landing pattern, deviated from the local airspace, and headed around 270 degrees towards the city centre.
Sunward SA 60L Aurora Crashes Into Beijing’s Tallest Building
Footage has captured the dramatic impact the aircraft had on the 1,699-foot (518-meter)-tall China Zun building, and parts of the plane and building then crashed to the ground. This incident resulted in the entire building being evacuated, and it remains unknown how many casualties have died or been injured from the crash.
A heavy police, ambulance, and fire department presence surrounded the building, and following the incident, police were quick to ascertain who they thought was the pilot of the aircraft, and have since located the individual’s car and searched his belongings. The plane, bearing registration B-12PP, is owned by the Pioneer Flying School at Shifosi Airfield.
A search of Junhua’s vehicle, a Buick Enclave CXL, could not immediately be confirmed as to whether they were the correct owner, and whether they were directly linked to the crash. However, as reported by the Financial Times, Junhua’s name is shown to be a person who holds a managerial position at a subsidiary of CITIC Bank, the namesake of the building the plane crashed into.
Near Miss: Air China A350 Almost Collides With Freighter Over Russia
The close call has raised concerns about aviation safety standards in the region.
Sunward SA 60L Aurora
The Sunward SA 60L Aurora is a Chinese-manufactured light-sport aircraft that has been designed and produced by Sunward Aircraft, which is a subsidiary of the Hunan Science and Technology Co., Ltd. The plane is primarily sold as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft and is designed to fly with one crew member and one passenger.
The plane is designed to comply with the strict US light-sport aircraft rules, and has a low-wing, two-seat configuration with an enclosed cockpit in a bubble canopy. The aircraft’s tricycle landing gear is fixed, and has a single engine in a tractor configuration. The CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) granted the design approval of the plane in 2013. There are two models, the SA 60L (the original model) and the SA 60V (upgraded, with engine installation enhancements and IFR instrumentation).
A search of aircraft details as reported by Aviation Herald for the plane involved in the Beijing crash, B-12PP, shows it held serial number SA60LS00313, and as the small aircraft diverted its own path across Beijing, it forced the go-around of Hainan Airlines flight HA7146, a non-stop Airbus A330-800 service from Urumqi (URC) to Beijing Capital (PEK)
