Aircraft crashes into Beijing’s tallest tower, prompting evacuation

A small aircraft struck Beijing’s CITIC Tower in the city’s central business district, shattering at least two windows and sending debris into the streets below as workers and bystanders fled the area. The tower was evacuated immediately after the impact, and smoke was seen rising from the supertall office building.

The crash happened in the evening, around 6 p.m. local time, in Chaoyang District’s Guomao area, one of Beijing’s most heavily developed commercial zones. CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, rises 528 meters, or 1,732 feet, and has 109 storeys, making it Beijing’s tallest building. It sits at No. 10 Guanghua Road and serves as a landmark office complex tied to CITIC Group, with tenants connected to finance, technology and business services.

The impact appeared to hit the upper section of the structure, with video and eyewitness descriptions showing damaged façade panels, shattered glass and debris falling from the tower. The incident immediately raised questions about airspace control over the capital, the speed of emergency response in a dense business district, and the extent of official disclosure in the first hours after the crash.

Authorities had not publicly confirmed the cause of the crash or the condition of the pilot as of the initial reports, and casualty figures remained unclear. The lack of immediate answers left open basic questions about how the aircraft entered such a sensitive part of the city and what safeguards, if any, failed before the impact.

China Zun became Beijing’s tallest building in August 2016 after surpassing China World Trade Center Tower III. The tower’s prominence, both as the tallest structure in the capital and as a major CITIC Group address, made the crash especially disruptive in a district where office towers, financial firms and government-facing business operations are tightly clustered.