FAA Ground School Practice Test

What is the Coordinated Universal Time for an aircraft that departs from the Pacific Standard Time zone at 1030 PST for a 4-hour flight to a Central Standard Time zone?

1. 2030Z

2. 2130Z

3. 2230Z

4. 2330Z

The correct answer is: 2230Z

To determine the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) for an aircraft departing from the Pacific Standard Time (PST) zone at 10:30 AM and flying for four hours to the Central Standard Time (CST) zone, you must first understand the time zone conversions. Pacific Standard Time is UTC-8 hours. Therefore, when it's 10:30 AM PST, you add 8 hours to convert to UTC. This calculation results in 18:30 (6:30 PM) UTC. Next, the aircraft is set for a 4-hour flight. Adding these 4 hours to the 18:30 UTC arrival time means the aircraft will arrive at 22:30 UTC. Recognizing the difference in time zones is crucial here; CST is UTC-6 hours, but for this question, it is not directly relevant as we are focused on the initial departure from PST to the time converted to UTC. Thus, the Coordinated Universal Time for the departure is accurately calculated as 22:30Z, confirming that this option is correct. Understanding the processes of time zone conversion and flight duration is key to arriving at the right answer.