ATP Multiengine (ATM) practice questions with answers

Answer: B) MEA

• AIncorrect. It's assigned, MEA or expected.
• BCorrect. For each route segment.
• CIncorrect. It's assigned, MEA or expected.
• DIncorrect. It's assigned, MEA or expected.

Answer: D) 190 hours

• AIncorrect. That's an annual flight-time limit.
• BIncorrect. That's the 168-hour limit.
• CIncorrect. That's a flight-time limit.
• DCorrect. A 60-hour limit applies per 168 hours.

Answer: A) 14 CFR 121.579, using the AFM altitude-loss figures and any altitudes set by the Administrator

14 CFR 121.579 sets autopilot minimum use altitudes for each phase of flight. Each altitude is the higher of a fixed figure, a multiple of the AFM altitude loss, or a value the Administrator specifies.

• ACorrect. Section 121.579 sets the minimum use altitudes by phase of flight. The values come from fixed figures (such as 500 feet), multiples of the altitude loss given in the AFM, or altitudes specified by the Administrator, whichever is higher.
• BIncorrect. Approach charts give DA/DH or MDA, not autopilot limits. Section 121.579(d) only uses DA(H) or MDA as a reference point; the limit itself comes from the regulation and the AFM.
• CIncorrect. The MEL covers dispatch with inoperative equipment. It doesn't set autopilot minimum use altitudes for normal operations.
• DIncorrect. The AIM is guidance, not regulation. For Part 121 operators, the limits come from 121.579 together with AFM data.

Answer: C) The cloud can't be seen in darkness, and airborne radar doesn't normally detect it

Volcanic ash clouds may be invisible at night or in IMC, and radar does not normally detect them, so crews can enter one without warning. Ash can cause engine flameout and other damage.

• AIncorrect. Ash plumes can rise to and drift at jet cruise altitudes. Nothing confines them to low altitudes at night, and many encounters have happened at cruise.
• BIncorrect. The AIM says airborne and ATC radar do not normally detect volcanic ash clouds, so the ash does not show up as precipitation returns.
• CCorrect. The AIM notes that the ash plume may not be visible, especially at night or in IMC, and that radar does not normally detect it. Crews can fly into it without warning.
• DIncorrect. Ash melts because of the high temperatures in the engine's hot section, whatever the outside air temperature. Night conditions make the ash harder to detect, not more likely to melt.

Answer: B) A band of rising air and storms near the equator

• AIncorrect. The ITCZ is equatorial.
• BCorrect. Trade winds converge there.
• CIncorrect. It's in the troposphere.
• DIncorrect. It's a convergence zone with convection.

Answer: D) Wave drag from shock waves forming near Mach 1

The area rule shapes the airplane so its total cross-sectional area changes smoothly along its length. This reduces wave drag from shock waves at transonic speeds.

• AIncorrect. Induced drag comes from making lift and is reduced by higher aspect ratio and winglets. Fuselage shaping does not target it.
• BIncorrect. Skin-friction drag is reduced by laminar-flow airfoils and smooth surfaces. The area rule is about the overall cross-sectional area distribution, not boundary-layer state.
• CIncorrect. Separation drag at high angle of attack is a low-speed, near-stall problem. It is addressed by wing design and high-lift devices, not by area ruling.
• DCorrect. The area rule calls for the total cross-sectional area to change smoothly from nose to tail. Narrowing the fuselage where the wing adds area avoids sudden jumps in area, which reduces shock-induced wave drag in the transonic range.

Answer: A) Optimum altitude gives the best fuel or cost efficiency at the current weight; maximum altitude is the highest level allowed by certification, thrust, or buffet margin

Optimum altitude is the most efficient cruise level for the current weight. Maximum altitude is the highest level the airplane may use, limited by certification/structure, available thrust or the required buffet (maneuver) margin, and it is usually above optimum.

• ACorrect. Optimum altitude is the most economical level for the current weight and rises as fuel burns off. Maximum altitude is the lowest of three limits: the certified (structural/pressurization) ceiling, the thrust-limited altitude, and the altitude that still leaves the required maneuver/buffet margin.
• BIncorrect. Buffet margin is one of the limits on maximum altitude. Optimum altitude is based on efficiency (fuel or cost), not on buffet margin. Also, the certified ceiling is only one of several limits on maximum altitude.
• CIncorrect. Both change with weight. As fuel burns off and weight drops, optimum altitude and the thrust- and buffet-limited maximum altitude both rise.
• DIncorrect. This swaps the two terms. Efficiency defines optimum altitude, and performance and certification limits define maximum altitude.

Answer: D) Within 1 hour at one-engine-out cruise

• AIncorrect. A distance limit applies.
• BIncorrect. That's for three- or four-engine airplanes.
• CIncorrect. That isn't the rule.
• DCorrect. Three- and four-engine limits are longer.

Answer: C) 90 seconds

• AIncorrect. The standard is 90 seconds.
• BIncorrect. The standard is 90 seconds.
• CCorrect. Half of the exits are typically used.
• DIncorrect. The standard is 90 seconds.

Answer: A) A false sense of pitching up

• ACorrect. Pilots may push the nose down.
• BIncorrect. That isn't the typical illusion.
• CIncorrect. Acceleration feels like pitching up.
• DIncorrect. Acceleration can mislead the inner ear.

Answer: C) Raise the critical AOA

• AIncorrect. They raise the critical AOA.
• BIncorrect. They raise the critical AOA.
• CCorrect. Increasing maximum lift.
• DIncorrect. They raise the critical AOA.

Answer: D) It shortens the takeoff distance

• AIncorrect. It affects takeoff too.
• BIncorrect. Upslope lengthens it.
• CIncorrect. Slope affects distance.
• DCorrect. Gravity helps acceleration.

Answer: B) The engine-out accelerate-go distance equals the accelerate-stop distance

The field length is balanced when, at the chosen V1, the engine-out accelerate-go distance equals the accelerate-stop distance.

• AIncorrect. That describes a field-length-limited takeoff. It does not compare engine-out continue and stop distances.
• BCorrect. When the distance to continue to 35 feet after an engine failure equals the distance to abort and stop, the field length is balanced at that V1.
• CIncorrect. The 115 percent factor applies to the all-engine takeoff distance (and to landing runway on wet runways). It does not define a balanced field.
• DIncorrect. Landing distance is a separate performance limit. The balanced field compares the two takeoff outcomes after an engine failure at V1.

Answer: C) 200 feet per NM

• AIncorrect. That's higher than the standard.
• BIncorrect. That's below the standard.
• CCorrect. Higher gradients are published when needed.
• DIncorrect. The standard is 200.

Answer: A) Within an altitude and airspeed envelope established specifically for in-flight restarts

14 CFR 25.903(e) requires an altitude and airspeed envelope for in-flight engine restarting, and each engine must be able to restart within it. For turbine airplanes, an independent ignition power source is required if windmilling engines cannot supply enough electrical power for ignition.

• ACorrect. 25.903(e)(2) requires an altitude and airspeed envelope for in-flight engine restarting, and each engine must have restart capability within that envelope. Restart attempts are therefore made inside that published envelope.
• BIncorrect. The rule does not require restart capability across the airplane's whole operating envelope. It requires capability only within the separately established restart envelope, which is usually much smaller.
• CIncorrect. 25.903(e) does not require APU bleed air. Its only power provision covers ignition: if windmilling speed cannot supply enough electrical power for ignition, an independent electrical power source must be provided.
• DIncorrect. The regulation sets no fixed altitude ceiling. The restart altitudes and airspeeds are whatever the established restart envelope defines for that airplane and engine.