FAA confirms Citation X as fastest civilian aircraft
The new Cessna Citation X flying over snowy landscape
The Federal Aviation Administration verifies the Citation X’s record-breaking speed.
The new Cessna Citation X flying over snowy landscape
Cessna Aircraft has concluded all high-speed certification flights with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the new Citation X and has confirmed that its status as the fastest civilian aircraft in the world.
This concludes all the required tests needed to validate the aircraft’s speed of Mach 0.935 (617 mph, 536 ktas).
Michael Thacker, Cessna senior vice president of engineering, said: “The high-speed testing of the new Citation X was a success. All responses from the high-speed certification testing were well within the expected performance envelope. While these are the results our engineers fully anticipated, this final round of testing went so smoothly the conditions were completed in fewer flights and hours than planned.”
Brad Thress, Cessna senior vice president of Business Jets, said: “Our Citation X customers will be glad to know they will own the fastest civilian aircraft in the world. There is no quicker way to get from point A to point B than inside a Citation X.”
The Citation X has a range of 3,242 nm, a seating capacity for nine people and Garmin G5000 avionics package. The aircraft can fly to an altitude of 51,000 feet and is powered by two Rolls-Royce AE3007C2 turbo fan engines. It can fly non-stop from New York to London, Dubai to Singapore or Panama City to Sao Paulo.
