A man who flew his plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old local resident who had expressed suicidal thoughts, Chinese authorities said Thursday. The crash took place on Friday evening when a small plane appeared to evade some of the world’s strictest aviation controls and slam into the 109-story CITIC Tower that dominates the capital’s skyline, killing the pilot and injuring 13 other people.
Investigation
The pilot, who was only identified by his surname Liu, took off from a general aviation airport in northeastern Beijing on Friday afternoon, initially flying with a companion in the two-seater Sunward SA60L Aurora, a domestically manufactured aircraft. Liu, who obtained his first pilot license in 2021, then flew solo and deviated from the designated flight path, losing contact with the airport before hitting the 528-meter (1,732-foot) CITIC Tower in the capital’s Central Business District, home to major companies and foreign embassies.
Citing multiple references in his diary to “ending (his) life,” officials said Liu was a self-employed divorcé who lived alone and suffered from chronic insomnia and anxiety. Investigators have concluded that the incident was a case of endangering public safety caused by personal reasons.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
