Falcon 50
ICAO FA50A three-engine Dassault jet used for government travel and, in France, sea patrol. Live Falcon 50 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Falcon 50 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Dassault
- Role
- Government transport and maritime surveillance
- Class
- L3J — Landplane, 3 jet engines
- Crew
- 2 to 3
- First flight
- 7 November 1976
- In service
- 1979
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Falcon 50
The Falcon 50 is the three-engine Dassault business jet that preceded the Falcon 900, and like its successor it found military buyers who wanted range and reliability over open water.
France flies a maritime surveillance version, the Falcon 50M, from Lann-Bihoué for patrol and search and rescue over the Atlantic and Mediterranean — a rare case of a business jet doing genuine maritime work. Portugal, Italy and several African states operate transport versions.
It appears here occasionally, most often as a Portuguese or French aircraft.
Callsign prefixes
- CTM
- Cotam — French Air and Space Force
- SNAK
- Portuguese Air Force
How to recognise it
- —Three engines: two on the rear fuselage and one in the fin root.
- —Shorter than a Falcon 900, with a more sharply swept wing.
- —Maritime versions carry a belly radome and observation windows.
Common questions
+ How is the Falcon 50 different from the Falcon 900?
The 900 is the larger, later development with a wider cabin and more range. Both use the distinctive three-engine layout, and the 50 is visibly the smaller aircraft.
+ What is the Falcon 50M?
France's maritime surveillance version, fitted with search radar and observation windows, used by the French Navy for patrol and search and rescue.
+ Why three engines on a business jet?
Range rules of the era restricted how far twin-engine aircraft could fly from a diversion airport. A third engine removed the restriction, which mattered for transatlantic business travel.