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China Suspends Flight Training, Cancels Drone Shows After Beijing Skyscraper Crash

A small training plane struck a high-rise in Beijing's business district in June, killing one crew member and injuring 13, according to rediff.com; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 19, 2026, 6:56 p.m. ET
has cancelled drone shows in 11 provinces and regions and suspended drone flights in six provinces under the People's Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command following the crash of a small training plane into a skyscraper in 's business district in June, rediff.com reported. Authorities have not yet released full details of the investigation, and no further information has been reported since that account. One crew member was killed and people were injured, according to rediff.com. The outlet reported that the aircraft had entered 's main urban area despite restrictions on low-altitude flights, and that the crash site was relatively close to Zhongnanhai, the compound housing 's top leadership. After the crash, authorities ordered flight-training institutions nationwide to suspend operations for what rediff.com described as "rectification." The aircraft involved has not been identified in the available reporting; no registration has been made public. The cause of the crash has not been determined and the investigation remains open, but no update on its progress has been published since the rediff.com report on which this account is based.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Terrain elevation
144 ft
Nearest aerodrome
8.0 miles ESE of [Duplicate] Beijing Xijiao Airport (CN-0481)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 119 Aug 2026, 22:56current

    First published.

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