A small plane crash in China’s capital exposed major gaps in the country’s airspace controls, analysts said, as the government tried to limit public discussion of the incident.
The aircraft flew into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper Friday, not far from the Chinese Communist Party’s headquarters and the homes of top leaders.
Authorities will “go into overdrive” to find out how the plane breached the tightly controlled airspace, one expert said; posts about the crash were erased from social media.
But the incident could benefit the “low-altitude economy,” which focuses on drones, by forcing a “regulatory revamp” that ultimately makes the sector less risky, a veteran China watcher argued.
The government is embracing drones for things like deliveries, maintenance, and farming.