Ron DeSantis's Cessna Citation Latitude returns to Tallahassee from Lake Wales seaplane base

Ron DeSantis's Cessna Citation Latitude, tail number N943FL, landed at Tallahassee International Airport at 21:05 UTC on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The aircraft departed Sage Seadrome Seaplane Base (9FD0) in Lake Wales at 20:22 UTC, making the trip in 43 minutes. The aircraft is registered to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and is used for executive transport.

The flight covered a great-circle distance of 213 nautical miles, or 246 miles, at an average ground speed of 298 knots. The highest altitude seen was 20,025 feet, and the top ground speed reached 402 knots. Based on our estimates, the flight burned about 165 US gallons of fuel and produced roughly 1,580 kg of CO2, about the same as driving a car 3,912 miles. The Cessna Citation Latitude is a super midsize jet with a range of 2,700 nm, a ceiling of 45,000 feet, and seating for up to nine passengers.

This was the 18th landing at Tallahassee in the tracked window of 40 flights since October 10, 2026. The previous landing there was on November 2, two days before this flight. The aircraft's home base is Tallahassee International Airport, and its most common destinations in the window were Tallahassee (17 landings), Pinellas Park (4 landings), and Pensacola (4 landings). Recent flights by the same owner include a Tallahassee to Lake Wales trip earlier on November 4, an Orlando to Tallahassee flight on November 2, and a Pinellas Park to Tallahassee leg on October 27.

Ron DeSantis was inaugurated as the 46th Governor of Florida on January 8, 2019, and re-elected in 2022. The state jet attracted scrutiny during the 2024 campaign when open-source flight tracking revealed that the FDLE Citation Latitude was deployed to New Hampshire, Iowa, and other early primary states simultaneously with DeSantis campaign events. No public event has been announced at Tallahassee for the governor.

The aircraft spent about two hours on the ground in Lake Wales before this flight. Its previous tracked landing was at Lake Wales on November 4. The departure runway at Sage Seadrome Seaplane Base is 5,000 feet long. The arrival runway at Tallahassee International Airport is 8,000 feet long. In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft visited 23 airports in one country and flew about 7,711 nautical miles. The longest leg in that period was from Austin to Tallahassee on October 17, covering 689 nautical miles.

The Cessna Citation Latitude is powered by Safran Arrius 2B2 turbofans and has a maximum takeoff weight of 30,800 lbs. This flight used about 8 percent of the aircraft's total range.

The Cessna Citation Latitude is the best-selling Cessna jet. It has a flat floor and G5000 avionics. The top speed is Mach 0.80, or 446 knots. The aircraft typically seats eight passengers, with capacity for up to nine. Our estimate of fuel burn is 230 US gallons per hour.