Authorities say man who flew plane into Beijing skyscraper previously expressed suicidal thoughts | CNN

A man who flew his plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old local resident who had expressed suicidal thoughts, Chinese authorities said Thursday, amid intense speculation about the pilot’s identity and motivation. The crash took place on Friday evening when a small plane appeared to evade some of the world’s strictest aviation controls and slam into the 109-story CITIC Tower that dominates the capital’s skyline, killing the pilot and injuring 13 other people. The incident was strictly censored in China and it took nearly a day for authorities to acknowledge the crash. On Thursday, authorities released new details about who was flying the plane. The pilot, who was only identified by his surname Liu, took off from a general aviation airport in northeastern Beijing on Friday afternoon, initially flying with a companion in the two-seater Sunward SA60L Aurora, a domestically manufactured aircraft, according to a statement from the city’s Chaoyang District government. Liu, who obtained his first pilot license in 2021, then flew solo and deviated from the designated flight path, losing contact with the airport before hitting the 528-meter (1,732-foot)