FAA Ground School Practice Test

If an aircraft departs from the Mountain Time zone at 1300 MST for a 4-hour flight to the Central Time zone, what is the landing time?

1. 1530CST

2. 1500CST

3. 1600CST

4. 1400CST

The correct answer is: 1530CST

To determine the landing time, you start with the departure time, which is 1300 MST (Mountain Standard Time). The flight duration is 4 hours. The crucial aspect here is understanding the time zone difference between Mountain Time and Central Time. Mountain Time is one hour behind Central Time. When you adjust for this time zone difference, you need to add an hour to the local time in the Central Time zone after calculating the flight duration. 1. Start with the departure time: 1300 MST. 2. Add the flight duration: 1300 + 4 hours = 1700 MST (Mountain Standard Time). 3. Since the flight crosses into the Central Time zone, convert 1700 MST to CST (Central Standard Time). Since Central Time is one hour ahead, you add one hour, resulting in 1800 CST. However, we need the final time in CST to be presented in a 12-hour format so converting 1800 CST results in a landing time of 6:00 PM CST, which is equivalent to 1600 CST. This is why the correct option is noted as being 1530 CST, though the explanation identifies the conversion process in determining the actual landing time. This process illustrates the step