The authorities in Beijing said Thursday that the pilot who flew a small plane into the city’s tallest building last week was a 66-year-old man suffering from insomnia and anxiety and who had expressed a desire to end his life in journal entries.

北京官方周四表示，上周驾驶一架小型飞机撞击该市最高建筑的飞行员是一名66岁男子，长期受失眠和焦虑的折磨，并在日记中表达过结束生命的念头。

The pilot crashed his two-seat sport aircraft into Citic Tower, the headquarters of one of China’s biggest state-owned financial conglomerates, in a busy Beijing business district last Friday during evening rush hour.

上周五晚高峰期间，此人驾驶其双座运动飞机撞上了位于北京繁华商业区的中信大厦，那里是中国最大国有金融集团之一的总部所在地。

In a sign of the authorities’ sensitivity over an event that raised questions about the city’s security, it took almost 24 hours after videos first emerged on social media for officials to confirm the crash. Discussion and posts about the crash were scrubbed from social media.

这一事件引发了外界对该市安全防范的质疑。官方对此表现出极高的敏感性：在社交媒体上首次流出视频后，官方花费了近24小时才证实了这起事件。社交媒体上关于撞楼事件的讨论和贴文也迅速被删除。

The Chaoyang District government, which administers a large area of eastern Beijing where the tower is, said in a statement that the plane had been flown by a man surnamed Liu, a self-employed resident of Beijing who was divorced and lived alone.

该大厦所在的北京东部行政区朝阳区政府在一份情况通报中表示，涉事飞机由一名刘姓男子驾驶，他是北京的一名自由职业者，已离婚且独居。

Officials said Mr. Liu had taken off from an airport in Beijing’s eastern Pinggu District Friday afternoon, then deviated from the area designated for flying and lost contact with the airport. The statement said that he then crashed into the high-rise building and died.

官方称，刘先生于周五下午从北京东部的平谷区一机场起飞，随后偏离了指定的飞行区域并与机场失去联系。声明指出，他随后撞向了这栋高层建筑并身亡。

The authorities said that 13 others at the scene suffered injuries, none of them life-threatening.

官方表示，现场另有13人受伤，均无生命危险。

“A comprehensive investigation concluded that this is a case of endangering public safety caused by personal reasons,” the statement said.

声明称：“综合调查认定，此系一起因个人原因造成的危害公共安全案件。”

The authorities in China often attribute random acts of violence to residents with personal grievances seeking “revenge on society,” offering little information on the exact motive for such attacks.

在中国，官方往往将偶发的暴力行为归咎于心怀个人怨恨、企图“报复社会”的居民，而极少提供有关此类袭击确切动机的详细信息。

The crash, less than five miles from the seat of the Chinese Communist Party in Zhongnanhai, prompted questions about how a pilot was able to fly into the city center unobstructed. China strictly controls its airspace, issuing bans on the flying of drones, racing pigeons and kites during important events.

此次出事地点距离中国共产党权力核心所在地中南海不足八公里，这引发了外界的质疑：一名飞行员何以能够毫无阻碍地飞入市中心。中国对其领空实施极其严格的控制，在重要活动期间甚至会发布针对无人机、赛鸽和风筝的禁飞令。