Overview
- Videos and photos circulating on Friday show a hole in the Citic Tower’s upper glass facade and debris falling to streets below after a small single‑engine light‑sport aircraft struck the building.
- Wreckage images bearing the registration B‑12PP and open‑source tracking services point to a China‑made Sunward SA 60L Aurora, though some online flight traces conflict and ownership has not been confirmed.
- Beijing police, firefighters and ambulances sealed off the site, evacuated occupants and restricted access to nearby roads while crews worked at the scene.
- Chinese authorities issued no formal statement and many social‑media posts were quickly deleted, with journalists on site told not to photograph the area as investigations proceed.
- The incident raises fresh questions about enforcement of strict flight rules over the capital, and officials and aviation agencies are expected to investigate cause, casualties and the plane’s provenance.