Piper PA-46-310P
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Malibu, introduced in 1984, was the first pressurised piston single with a genuine cabin — six seats, a flat floor, big windows and an airstair-style door — and it cruises at 213 knots in the flight levels with 1,400 nautical miles of range. On paper it is one of the most impressive light aeroplanes ever certified, and for the right owner it still is.
The Continental TSIO-520-BE is the problem. In this tightly cowled, pressurised, high-altitude installation it ran hot and suffered persistent cylinder, valve and turbocharger trouble; engines frequently failed to reach half their nominal overhaul life and the type went through a period of intense scrutiny after a series of in-flight breakups in the early 1990s, which investigation largely attributed to loss of control in weather rather than structural defect. Piper replaced the engine with a Lycoming in the 1989 Mirage. A useful regulatory detail: the maximum operating altitude is 25,000 ft, which is not above 25,000 ft, so no high-altitude endorsement is legally required — though no insurer will skip the training.
Variants of the Piper PA-46 Malibu, Mirage and Matrix
- PA-46-310P · 1984 · 213 active · this page
- PA 46-350P · 1989 · 486 active
- PA46R-350T · 2008 · 101 active
Also consider
- Cessna T210MScore 22.3/50 · 6 seats · 197 kt
- Cessna TU206FScore 27.6/50 · 6 seats · 164 kt
- Beechcraft 36Partial 15.5/30 · 6 seats · 170 kt
Compare with…
Put Piper PA-46-310P side by side with up to three other models.
- Piper PA-46-310P
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What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental TSIO-520-BE (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 310 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1984 |
| Production end | 1988 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 213 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,400 nm |
| Service ceiling | 25,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,143 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 2,100 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,800 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,640 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 920 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 4,100 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,460 lb |
| Usable fuel | 120 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 18 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $270,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $550,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,400 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $60,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $85,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 386 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 213 |
| Median year built | 1985.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 24 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 8 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 112.681 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 89.22 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 64 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 30.053 |
| Airworthiness directives | 14 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 213 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 213 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 213 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.5 of 101 |
| Severity | 1.8 of 102 |
| Access | 5.9 of 103 |
| Support | 6.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 8.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 24 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 38.8 · 75 models in class.
- Severity: class median 16.67.
- Access: class median 1,826.5.
- Support: class median 87.
- Liquidity: class median 17.96.
- 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 6 · scores Sep 30