FAA Ground School Practice Test

An aircraft departs from a Mountain Standard Time zone at 1515Z MST for a 2-hour 30-minute flight to a Pacific Standard Time zone. What is the estimated time of arrival at the destination airport?

1. 1545PST

2. 1645PST

3. 1745PST

4. 1445PST

The correct answer is: 1645PST

To determine the estimated time of arrival (ETA) at the destination airport, it's essential to start with the departure time and account for the flight duration, as well as the difference in time zones. The aircraft departs at 1515Z MST. Mountain Standard Time is 7 hours behind UTC (Z). Therefore, to convert the departure time to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), you would add 7 hours to the MST time: 1515Z MST + 7 hours = 2215Z (UTC). Next, you add the duration of the flight, which is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Adding this to the departure time in UTC: 2215Z + 2 hours 30 minutes = 0015Z the next day. Now, the aircraft is arriving in the Pacific Standard Time zone. Pacific Standard Time is 8 hours behind UTC. To convert the UTC arrival time to Pacific Standard Time, you subtract 8 hours: 0015Z - 8 hours = 1615PST. This is the local time upon arrival. However, because the options provided are in hours, you may want to express it in an easy-to-read format. The closest time representation available in the choices is 1645P