Beijing names pilot killed in tower crash

BEIJING: The pilot killed when a plane crashed into Beijing’s tallest building last Friday was a 66-year-old man surnamed Liu, Beijing’s Chaoyang district government said on Thursday, as officials seek to end speculation about the incident.

Without identifying the 108-storey CITIC Tower, headquarters of one of China’s largest state-owned conglomerates and located about 7 km (4.3 miles) east of the Zhongnanhai leadership compound, the Chaoyang government said Liu had deviated from his approved flight area and lost contact with the airport from which he took off before crashing into the building, dying at the scene.

Liu, a Beijing native, suffered from insomnia and anxiety, the statement said, adding that the incident’s cause was “personal reasons.”

Incidents like Friday’s crash are rare in China, which maintains some of the world’s strictest airspace controls and tight security around President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders, fuelling speculation in Beijing’s central business district – where the building is located – about what happened.

The crash occurred days before the ruling Communist Party celebrated its 105th anniversary down the road in the Great Hall of the People off Tiananmen Square. Discussion of the crash on Chinese social media has since been scrubbed.

Blaming the pilot does not explain the gaps in security, however. Internet users were still seeking answers in posts beneath the online statement before they were swiftly deleted.

The Chaoyang district government’s statement said Liu had long suffered from insomnia and anxiety and his diary repeatedly mentioned ending his life.

Obtaining a private pilot licence in China requires a physical medical examination and other appropriate certifications, a pilot qualified to fly in China said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the incident.

It remains unclear how the plane was able to enter an area next to a permanent no-fly zone and also cross highly restricted airspace used by commercial jets arriving at and departing from Beijing Capital Airport, one of the city’s two major airports.

On the afternoon of the incident, Liu “first carried out an accompanied flight and then a solo flight” out of a general aviation airport in the suburban Pinggu district, authorities said. The flight deviation occurred during the solo flight.

The statement confirmed for the first time the registration number of the plane: B-12PP.

Chinese regulations require all flights, including non-airline general aviation, to be approved in advance. General aviation operators ⁠must submit ​detailed flight plans to flight-control authorities before 3 pm (0700 GMT) on the day before takeoff. Flying over urban ​areas is generally prohibited under China’s civil aviation laws.