The US Federal Aviation Administration has ended long-standing exemptions that allowed one pilot to fly older Cessna Citation business jets originally certified for two pilots. The change covers the CE-500 family, including the Citation and Citation I, Citation II, S/II, Citation V and Ultra, Citation Bravo, Citation Encore and Encore+, plus the military T-47A, while single-pilot-certified Mustang and CJ models are not affected.
The FAA tied the move to safety concerns and compliance failures in the use of the exemptions, which had existed for more than 40 years in some cases. Existing single-pilot logbook endorsements under those exemptions are no longer valid, meaning affected aircraft must now be operated with a qualified second pilot. Industry coverage puts the number of impacted US-registered aircraft at roughly 1,250.
The decision lands at a sensitive point for operators and training providers serving the legacy Citation fleet, a large segment of the US business-aviation market. It also closes off new relief requests for the affected models, while the FAA keeps single-pilot certification intact for aircraft that were designed and approved for that role from the outset.