Beijing plane crash: four days of silence

You might have missed the story, but a small plane crashed into Beijing's tallest skyscraper, killing the pilot – the only person on board – and wounding 13 others. That was four days ago. But today, it still remains unclear why it happened and how it did.

The incident happened just a few kilometres from Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party's headquarters. Friday's collision left holes on the side of the 109-storey CITIC Tower, which have since been boarded up. Dramatic footage of the incident has been scrubbed off the internet.

China's state-owned aviation firms have been instructed to suspend light aircraft operations but decline to elaborate, saying they've been told not to discuss it. Amid the information vacuum, speculation is mounting about how the aircraft managed to penetrate a city with some of the world's strictest airspace controls.

China is no stranger to censorship. Criticism of the party, the country's leaders or the government is rare, and any discussions that seem critical, have political implications or touch upon sensitive issues quickly disappear. But this time it has gone beyond the obvious targets.

Photographs and memes of the CITIC Tower, which are unrelated to Friday's incident, have also been removed from Chinese social media platforms. Many see it as a lucky charm and young people wishing for good fortune, from exam results to jobs, either stop by or share photos of it online, along with a quick prayer.

The CITIC Tower is shaped like a Chinese wine vessel and is a local crowd-puller. But today, the usual scenes of people wishing for good fortune were missing.

Manya Koetse, who runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter, says this is a highly unusual incident that calls into question government competence. It potentially threatens 'important party narratives'.

Even those aviation firms that confirmed to the BBC that authorities have grounded light aircraft operations since the incident did not wish to say more.

'The fact that a small plane, considerably larger than most drones, was able to fly across much of the city and get quite close to Zhongnanhai is both politically embarrassing and a major security lapse,' says Raymond Kuo, vice-president of research at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.

It is not the first time China's airspace has been breached.

'This is a bit of an embarrassment to the security services responsible for Beijing,' Chong Ja Ian, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China, says.

A closer parallel was the incident in May 1987 when German amateur pilot Mathias Rust landed his light aircraft in the Red Square in Moscow. His flight and landing highlighted serious gaps in the Soviet air defence system.

Similarly, some officials may be removed from their posts over the Beijing crash.

A small plane hitting CITIC Tower means that a drone or missile might be able to as well. This incident will likely lead to a re-examination of China's airspace controls.

'Not many more seconds of flying and [the crash] could have been at Zhongnanhai… [That would have been] an earthquake in Beijing’s security system,' China analyst Bill Bishop wrote on X.