Small plane crashes into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper

A pilot is dead and 13 people injured after a small plane crashed into the tallest skyscraper in Beijing on Friday, local time, sending debris raining down on the streets of China’s capital city.

Dramatic social media footage showed shattered windows in the 109-story CITIC tower, also known as China Zun, and the plane’s shorn-off tail section on the streets of Chaoyang, Beijing’s largest and most populous urban district, reports theNew York Post.

Authorities in the capital’s Chaoyang District said in a statement shared on WeChat that “a single-engine, two-seat light aircraft crashed into a high-rise building” at 5:55pm on Friday.

“The only person on board was the pilot, who died, and 13 people were injured at the scene,” said the statement, the first official comment about the incident.

It said authorities were “conducting further investigation into the incident”.

Local media reported the aircraft was a B-12PP, a Chinese-made single-engine, two-seat light aircraft, which struck the building around 6pm local time (8pm, AEST).

It took off from the general aviation Shifosi Airport 30 minutes before the crash and was slotted to return to the same airport when it strayed from its planned flight path.

The flight was being tracked until the signal was lost near Beijing’s East Fifth Ring Road and was not heard from again.

Two windows on the 518 metre tower were shattered in the crash, and thick smoke was seen pouring out of the ground floor of the building as it was evacuated.

Several roadways near the building were closed off. Witnesses told Global.hk that Beijing police rapidly stepped up its presence in the area.

The outlet reported police officers were stopping passers-by on the streets from taking photos, and several of the videos showing the damage posted on social media have been taken offline.

This article was first published in The New York Post and is reproduced with permission.