Cessna Citation Ii/Sp (C551)
i
ICAO C551 Small

Cessna Citation Ii/Sp

Twin Jet· 37 globally registered

The Cessna Citation II is a light business jet that became one of the most successful corporate aircraft of the 1980s, building on the original Citation's reputation for economy and simplicity while adding meaningful performance improvements. Introduced in 1977 as the Model 550, it stretched the fuselage to seat up to eight passengers, added more powerful Pratt & Whitney JT15D-4 engines, and increased range to roughly 1,500 nautical miles, making it viable for true coast-to-coast missions in the United States. Cessna produced more than 650 Citation IIs and the improved Citation II/SP variant before transitioning to the Bravo in the mid-1990s, and the type remains popular in the owner-flown and charter markets for its straightforward systems, modest operating costs, and forgiving handling characteristics. The aircraft cruises at around 400 knots and reaches a service ceiling of 43,000 feet, respectable figures for a light jet that prioritized reliability and dispatch availability over raw speed. Its straight wing and docile stall behavior made it a favorite among pilots stepping up from piston twins, while its relatively short runway performance allowed access to smaller airports that larger jets couldn't serve. SkyMeter has tracked 34 flights across 14 airframes and 13 operators, with ORION AERIAL LLC among the most active observed operators.

ACTIVE AIRFRAMES
14
last 7 days
🏢
OPERATORS
13
unique airlines
📊
FLIGHTS
34
tracked
AVG DURATION
1h 29m
per flight
INCIDENT RATE
5.9%
2 flagged

Safety in context

The incident rate counts flights with ANY safety event detected by SkyMeter: go-arounds (a routine response, not a failure), unstable-approach gate flags (advisory thresholds), rejected takeoffs (the system working as designed), and runway events. It is NOT an accident rate or fatality rate. For accident statistics, refer to the NTSB Aviation Accident Database (USA) or the Aviation Safety Network. See methodology for what each event type measures.

Performance

Speed envelope & approach

Vref
100 kt
Vref range
Vmo
270 kt
Mmo
0.72
Vs1 (clean)
89 kt
Vs0 (landing)
82 kt
Vfe
180 kt
Approach category
B

Dimensions

Airframe geometry

Wingspan
52 ft
Length
48 ft
Tail height
15 ft
Wheelbase
18 ft
Gear width
13 ft
Wake category
Light

Weight & identification

Operating limits

MTOW
14,800 lb
MALW
12,000 lb
Manufacturer model
Cessna Citation II/SP
FAA designator
C551
Registered
37

Recent incidents

Flagged flights of C551

20
8/14/2026
1h 44m
△ Low approach-stability score
8/13/2026
1h 12m
△ Low approach-stability score
8/11/2026
1h 29m
△ Low approach-stability score
8/10/2026
1h 55m
△ Low approach-stability score
8/4/2026
47m
△ Low approach-stability score
7/31/2026
33m
△ Low approach-stability score
7/31/2026
3h 19m
△ Low approach-stability score
7/29/2026
22m
△ Low approach-stability score
7/27/2026
2h 36m
△ Low approach-stability score
7/24/2026
1h 19m
△ Low approach-stability score

Recent flights

Real flights of C551 · airborne ≥ 20 min

30
8/19/2026
24m
No alerts
8/19/2026
1h 33m
No alerts
8/19/2026
1h 54m
No alerts
8/18/2026
22m
No alerts
8/18/2026
2h 3m
No alerts
8/17/2026
25m
No alerts
8/17/2026
3h 56m
No alerts
8/17/2026
1h 53m
No alerts
8/16/2026
2h 5m
No alerts
8/16/2026
1h 46m
No alerts
8/16/2026
2h 40m
No alerts
8/16/2026
2h 3m
No alerts
8/16/2026
51m
No alerts
8/14/2026
1h 44m
△ Low approach-stability score
8/14/2026
3h 31m
No alerts
8/14/2026
27m
No alerts
8/14/2026
27m
No alerts
8/14/2026
1h 39m
No alerts
8/14/2026
4h 25m
No alerts
8/14/2026
1h 45m
No alerts
8/14/2026
25m
No alerts
8/13/2026
1h 12m
△ Low approach-stability score
8/13/2026
4h 27m
No alerts
8/13/2026
1h 40m
No alerts
8/13/2026
1h 19m
No alerts
8/13/2026
2h 3m
No alerts
8/13/2026
1h 24m
No alerts
8/12/2026
1h 42m
No alerts
8/12/2026
3h 47m
No alerts
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© SkyMeter · All flight data subject to ODbL attribution · Tracking window: 7 days (free tier)