Kash Patel's Gulfstream G550 flies San Diego to Richmond in 3 hours 60 minutes

Kash Patel's Gulfstream G550, tail number N708JH, flew from San Diego International Airport (KSAN) to Richmond International Airport (KRIC) on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The aircraft departed at 16:21 UTC and landed at 20:21 UTC. The flight took 3 hours and 60 minutes in the air.

The aircraft used about 29 percent of its total range on this flight. San Diego International Airport has a longest runway of 9,401 feet at an elevation of 17 feet. Richmond International Airport's longest runway is 9,003 feet at an elevation of 167 feet.

The great-circle distance between the two airports was 1,963 nautical miles, or 2,259 miles. The aircraft averaged a ground speed of 491 knots and reached a highest altitude of 45,025 feet. Its top ground speed was 587 knots. The flight burned an estimated 1,718 US gallons of fuel, producing about 16,507 kilograms of CO2. The Gulfstream G550 is an ultra long range jet with a range of 6,750 nautical miles, a top speed of Mach 0.885, a ceiling of 51,000 feet, and seating for up to 19 passengers.

In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft made 38 tracked flights totaling 57.4 hours in the air. Those flights produced an estimated 237,261 kilograms of CO2. The longest leg in that period was from Camp Springs to San Francisco on October 6, covering 2,136 nautical miles.

This was the 14th tracked landing at Richmond in the 30 days before this flight. The previous landing at Richmond was on October 27, two days earlier. The aircraft's home base is Manassas Regional Airport (KHEF), about 74 nautical miles from Richmond. In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft visited 21 airports in two countries and flew about 21,131 nautical miles. Other tracked aircraft that landed at Richmond in the 24 hours before this landing included a Truist Financial Cessna Citation Latitude about 23 hours earlier and a Dominion Energy Gulfstream G450 less than an hour earlier.

The aircraft had been on the ground for about 17 hours before this flight, following a tracked landing at San Diego on October 28. In the 30 days before this flight, the most common destinations were Richmond with 13 landings and Camp Springs with 9 landings.

Kash Patel was confirmed as the 9th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on February 20, 2025. As FBI Director, Patel is required by federal policy to use the Department of Justice's Gulfstream G550 for security reasons. The aircraft has attracted scrutiny over flights to Las Vegas, Hawaii, and visits to his girlfriend's hometown. In 2025, House Democrats requested reimbursement records for personal flights. A web search found no scheduled public appearance or event for Patel near Richmond on the day of this flight.

The flight from San Diego to Richmond adds another entry to the aircraft's flight history. The aircraft continues to operate from its home base in Virginia.