Aircraft
Pilatus Aircraft Delivers Last PC-6 Porter
Pilatus marked the end of a 63-year production run for the PC-6 Porter on Dec. 12, 2022, with the last delivery of the venerable turboprop single.
Pilatus PC-6 Porter in hangar
The last Pilatus PC-6—S/N 1019—was delivered to Indonesian charter operator Smart Aviation on Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo: Smart Aviation)

Pilatus Aircraft yesterday delivered the last PC-6 Porter, marking the end of a 63-year production run for the rugged, unpressurized turboprop single. The capstone aircraft—S/N 1019, registered as FB-FBE—was handed over to air charter operator Smart Aviation of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus announced in 2017 that it planned to cease PC-6 production in 2019, but the pandemic and other delays stretched that to this year. At the time, the aircraft manufacturer said it was dropping the PC-6 line to focus more of its attention on the PC-24 twinjet.