Pilot who crashed into Beijing's tallest building wrote about 'ending his life'

A pilot who crashed a small plane into Beijing’s CITIC Tower—the city’s tallest building—wrote in a diary about “ending his life,” Chinese authorities said. The crash occurred on June 26 at about 6 p.m. local time in a downtown skyscraper area as people were leaving work, leaving a hole in the glass facade of the 108-storey tower, nicknamed the “Zun” building. The pilot, identified only as Liu and described as a 66-year-old Beijing man, died at the scene and 13 other people were injured; none of the injuries were reported as life-threatening, and one injured person had been discharged. Authorities said the investigation concluded the crash was due to “personal reasons.” They stated Liu deviated from his approved flight area and lost contact with the airport from which he took off, before crashing. Officials added he held a sport pilot licence from 2021 and a private pilot licence from 2024. Regulators require medical certificates every two years, including screening for psychiatric conditions, but it remains unclear how the aircraft entered highly restricted airspace near a permanent no-fly zone used by commercial jets.