Cessna (Textron Aviation) · Business jet
Cessna Citation Excel/XLS
Is the Cessna Citation Excel/XLS safe? It ranks #3 of 18 private and business aircraft families we rate, with 3 fatal accidents counted in about 4.4 million flights since 2008.
Likely range 61 to 83
How the score is built
- Fatal accidents
- 3 in 4.4 million flights
0.68 fatal accidents per million flights. Counted: all civil flights (private, charter, corporate, cargo, training and other), accidents and unexplained losses; not counted: military, test and illegal flights, sabotage, hijackings, shoot-downs and deliberate crew acts.
- Full-loss equivalents
- 3
Each counted accident adds the share of people on board who died (1 = no survivors). This is what the score is based on.
- Flights flown
- 4.4 million
Estimated flights of all kinds. Flights of all kinds (private, charter, corporate, cargo, training and other civil use) 2008 to 3 November 2026: OpenSky 2022 flights of the type under any call sign (US military aircraft left out), re-weighted to World Bank departures country by country, carried to other years by the type's flights counted each year by FAA traffic flow management (TFMSC). Flights before 2008 are not used, like the accidents. About 270 flights per aircraft per year (fleet with a median service life of about 36 years). Uncertainty roughly ±30%.
- Technology generation
- Modern business jet (type first flew from 1990)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of the other types of their generation: 0.85 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 26.3 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 93%.
- Likely range
- 61 to 83
The score is 90% likely to lie in this range, given how few accidents a type has and the error in the estimate of its flights.
- Last fatal accident
- 7 August 2025
African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), Mwihoko, Githurai 45 area, Kiambu County, Kenya: 4 of 4 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 12
Civil aircraft destroyed or written off from all causes, including non-fatal accidents, cargo flights and attacks; airframes flown by air forces on military operations are left out. ASN gives no fate for some damaged aircraft, so this can be a little low (context only, not in the score).
Compared with everyday risks
One flight on the Cessna Citation Excel/XLS carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- An hour's walk1 in 14 million
- Driving 100 miles (160 km)1 in 5.9 million
- One flight on the Cessna Citation Excel/XLSThis aircraft1 in 1.4 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- A day of skiing1 in 830,000
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- Running a marathon1 in 290,000
- A skydive1 in 250,000
- A general anaesthetic1 in 100,000
- Riding a motorbike 100 miles (160 km)1 in 83,000
Accident history
3 fatal accidents since 2008 count toward the score, with 15 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF)560XL Citation XLS · Mwihoko, Githurai 45 area, Kiambu County, Kenya | 4 killed / 4 on board | Five minutes after leaving Nairobi Wilson on a medical flight to Hargeisa, the AMREF Citation XLS fell from about 11,900 ft, spinning right with smoke from its right side, into homes in Mwihoko. All four on board and two on the ground died. No cause has been published.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Brook Haven Properties LLC560XLS+ Citation XLS+ · 0,4 km N of Plainville-Robertson Airport, CT, United States of America | 4 killed / 4 on board | The Citation XLS+ began its takeoff from Plainville's 3,665 ft runway with the parking brake still set. It could not lift off in time, left the runway end, hit a power pole and crashed into a building; all four died. The NTSB also noted no warning for an unreleased brake.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| AF Andrade Empreendimentos e Participações560XLS+ Citation XLS+ · Santos, SP, Brazil | 7 killed / 7 on board | Approaching Guarujá in rain and mist with presidential candidate Eduardo Campos aboard, the Citation XLS+ left the published approach, went around and dived at very high speed into homes in Santos; all seven died. Investigators cited spatial disorientation and the weather.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record |
Three fatal Citation Excel family events up to 3 November 2026 is a short list for a jet that has flown about 4.4 million estimated flights since 2008, the period the score covers. The line is a corporate and charter workhorse, and it is flown by two pilots. This page covers the whole line: the Excel, XLS, XLS+, XLS Gen2 and the new Ascend.
What is a Citation Excel?
It is a midsize cabin jet from Textron Aviation, between the small CitationJet and the larger Sovereign, which has no counted fatal event. It first flew in 1996. About 1,050 have been built and about 980 were seen flying in 2022. Typical seating is eight. All versions use the ICAO code C56X, so a flight tracker will not tell an Excel from an XLS+.
You meet it in fractional ownership fleets, on charter, with companies that run their own aircraft, and as an air ambulance. It needs two pilots, so the single-pilot owner flying common on the CitationJet does not apply.
What do the three fatal events show?
All three count under our methodology, and none was a scheduled passenger flight. They are coded as other: private, executive and ambulance.
- 13 August 2014, AF Andrade, Santos, Brazil. An XLS+ with presidential candidate Eduardo Campos aboard left the approach in rain and mist, went around and dived into homes. All seven died. Investigators cited spatial disorientation and the weather.
- 2 September 2021, Brook Haven Properties, Plainville, Connecticut. An XLS+ began its take-off with the parking brake set and could not lift off. It left the runway end and hit a building. All four died. The NTSB also noted there was no warning for an unreleased brake.
- 7 August 2025, AMREF, near Nairobi, Kenya. An XLS on a medical flight fell from about 11,900 ft into homes in Mwihoko. Four on board and two on the ground died. No cause has been published, so nothing here is a finding.
What about non-fatal events?
Three events is a thin record, so non-fatal events add context. On 21 August 2019 a charter Excel operated by Delta Private Jets ran off the end of the runway at Oroville, California, after an aborted take-off. All ten occupants left the aircraft before a fire destroyed it. The NTSB found the parking brake had not been released before take-off, the same cause as at Plainville. After two such take-offs, it is fair to ask an operator how its checklist confirms the brake is off.
How good is the evidence?
With about 4.4 million estimated flights since 2008, with an error of about 30%, and only three counted accidents, the confidence in the score is low. The type's own record carries most of the weight, and a few more events would move it. The Excel ranks near the top of the private jets we rank, just behind the Challenger 300 and the Phenom 300; the scores are close and the likely ranges overlap, so the gap is small and uncertain.
How do I check a charter operator?
- Ask for the air operator certificate (in the United States, Part 135) and check it with the authority.
- Ask for a recent third-party audit, such as ARGUS or Wyvern.
- Ask that two pilots fly. For this aircraft that should be the norm.
- Ask how the operator handles icy conditions and short runways.
For an older Citation of similar size, see the Citation V, which has four counted fatal events in about 2 million flights since 2008.
Questions people ask
Is the Cessna Citation Excel safe?
Up to 3 November 2026 our data lists 3 fatal events, all of which count, in about 4.4 million estimated flights since 2008. That is a low count for a business jet, but three accidents are few, so the confidence is low. The three events were an air ambulance, a private flight and an executive flight, not scheduled passenger flights.
Is the Citation XLS flown by one pilot or two?
Two. The type certificate sets a minimum crew of two pilots for the Excel, XLS and XLS+. That is the main crew difference from the smaller CitationJet, which many owners fly alone.
What is the difference between the Excel, XLS, XLS+ and Ascend?
They are upgrades of one design with the ICAO code C56X. The XLS, XLS+ and XLS Gen2 are later upgrades of the Excel with newer avionics and systems. The Ascend is the newest and is still in production.
What happened to the Citation XLS that crashed in Kenya?
On 7 August 2025 an AMREF air ambulance fell from about 11,900 ft shortly after leaving Nairobi Wilson. Four on board and two on the ground died. The investigation has not published a cause.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: AMREF Cessna 560XL Citation XLS, Mwihoko, Kenya, 7 August 2025 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: Brook Haven Properties Citation XLS+, Plainville, Connecticut, 2 September 2021 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: AF Andrade Citation XLS+, Santos, Brazil, 13 August 2014 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.ASN record: Delta Private Jets Cessna 560XL Citation Excel, Oroville, California, 21 August 2019 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 5.SafetyScorer exposure model: OpenSky Network flights 2022 (all operators), World Bank departures, FAA TFMSC (opens in a new tab)Flights of all kinds (private, charter, corporate, cargo, training and other civil use) 2008 to 3 November 2026: OpenSky 2022 flights of the type under any call sign (US military aircraft left out), re-weighted to World Bank departures country by country, carried to other years by the type's flights counted each year by FAA traffic flow management (TFMSC). Flights before 2008 are not used, like the accidents. About 270 flights per aircraft per year (fleet with a median service life of about 36 years). Uncertainty roughly ±30%.