Aircraft model
TEXTRON AVIATION INC 208B
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Grand Caravan EX, the current-production version with the more powerful 867 shp PT6A-140 engine — fitted since 2013 in place of the 675 shp engine of the earlier Grand Caravan — and the Garmin G1000 NXi flight deck, which replaced the original G1000 on later Textron-era aircraft. It is a single-engine turboprop utility aircraft: fixed gear, a large cargo door, and the ability to lift well over 3,000 lb out of a short unpaved strip. Regional freight feeders, island airlines, skydiving operations, missionary aviation and remote charter companies fly them worldwide.
It is bought for load, reliability and runway performance rather than speed or comfort — 185 knots, unpressurised, and loud enough that headsets are not optional. The economics work because a PT6 starts every time and runs thousands of hours between overhauls, and because the airframe tolerates rough strips and constant heavy use. Icing is the type's documented weak area: the Caravan accumulated a poor record in icing conditions and now operates under specific limitations and equipment requirements that anyone flying one in winter must understand properly. At 8,807 lb it needs no type rating, but no operator or insurer will let a pilot near one without formal training.
Compare with…
Put TEXTRON AVIATION INC 208B side by side with up to two other models.
- TEXTRON AVIATION INC 208B
What it is
| Seats | 14 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 |
| Horsepower | 867 hp |
| Fuel | JetA |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1986 |
| Production end | current |
| Endorsements required | high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 185 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 964 nm |
| Service ceiling | 25,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,275 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 61 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 2,160 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,871 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 14 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 3,657 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,433 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 8,807 lb |
| Empty weight | 5,150 lb |
| Usable fuel | 332 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 55 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $1,250,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $3,700,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 3,600 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $380,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $560,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 628 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 211 |
| Median year built | 2020.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 33.181 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 4.742 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 63 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 29.863 |
| Airworthiness directives | 22 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 211 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 211 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 211 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, turbo-prop, 1 engine, 7+ seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 7.8 of 101 |
| Severity | 5.6 of 102 |
| Access | 4.4 of 103 |
| Support | 10 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 31.1 out of 506 |
These record scores treat TEXTRON AVIATION INC 208B as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 645 aircraft registered under CESSNA. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 3.7 · 10 models in class.
- Severity: class median 29.71.
- Access: class median 3,269.25.
- Support: class median 94.5.
- Liquidity: class median 21.99.
- 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.