Air Tractor AT-400
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The AT-400 is the first turbine Air Tractor: the AT-301 airframe with a 680 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-15AG and a 400 gallon hopper on short-span (45 ft) wings, first flown in September 1979 and certified in April 1980; 72 were built, plus 14 AT-400As with the 550 hp PT6A-20.
An early turbine ag aircraft on the short wing is a hot-rod by the standards of the type, and the questions are the ones for every small-PT6 airframe forty years on: hot-section and overhaul status, the serial-tied inspection programme on the wing spar, and the spray and GPS fit. The registry's AT-400 count includes AT-400As under the same string in some cases, and the two differ by 130 hp, so check the data plate. Weights and performance are blank because the TCDS was not read and the Wikipedia specification block describes the AT-401. The one listing read was an AT-400A at $300,000, which is a sibling rather than this model.
Variants of the Air Tractor AT-400 series
- AT-400 · 1980 · 30 active · this page
- AT-401 · 1986 · 50 active
- AT-402 · 1987 · 35 active
- AT-402B · 1990 · 77 active
- AT-402A · 48 active
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Among 1–2 seat turboprops (16 models)
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Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-15AG |
| Horsepower | 680 hp |
| Fuel | JetA |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1980 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel;high-performance;complex |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | — |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | — |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | — |
| Stall speed (Vso) | — |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | — |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | — |
| Empty weight | — |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a single-engine turboprop.
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | not counted | |
| Insurance | fixed | $15,000/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | not counted | |
| Hangar | fixed | not counted |
Not in the totals: Maintenance reserve, Annual inspection, Hangar. We have no reliable default for these lines; enter your figure to include them.
No fuel burn is on record for this model, so fuel is not included.
No TBO or overhaul cost is on record for this model, so the engine reserve is not included.
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 59 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 30 |
| Median year built | 1983 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 66.67 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 3 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 10 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 15 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 30 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 30 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 30 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, turbo-prop, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 5.7 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 7.3 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 9.3 of 103 |
| Support | 1.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 26.2 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 0 · 16 models in class.
- Severity: class median 20.2.
- Access: class median 5,000.
- Support: class median 48.
- Liquidity: class median 23.47.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30