The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has certified the TBM 960, the latest version of Daher’s single-engine turboprop.
The French manufacturer Daher announced that in late June 2022, the FAA had validated the initial certification of the TBM 960 turboprop issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) three months before.
Consequently, deliveries to US-based customers have started, with two aircraft taking off from the manufacturer’s headquarters in Tarbes to reach their customers across the Atlantic.
“I want to recognize the collaborative work of EASA and the FAA that resulted in the TBM 960’s certification,” Nicolas Chabbert, Senior Vice President of Daher’s Aircraft Division commented in a press release issued on July 5, 2022. “We’ve had an exceptional response overall to the TBM 960 since its launch, with more than 60 orders now logged worldwide for this latest version.”
The latest iteration in Daher’s TBM 900 series aircraft, the TBM 960 turboprop features a new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6E-66XT engine as well as a Hartzell Propeller’s five-blade Raptor composite propeller.
The aircraft can reach 330 knots (611 kilometers per hour), making it one of the fastest single-engine turboprops currently on the market.
Daher said it has delivered over 1,080 aircraft of the TBM series to date, 80% of which have gone to North America, mainly the United States.