PLT205: Effects of Alcohol
What code PLT205 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Effects of Alcohol before your checkride.
Recall effects of alcohol on the body
What this means for your checkride
Alcohol impairs judgment, coordination, and the inner ear long after you feel sober, and altitude multiplies its effect. Even small amounts reduce the brain's use of oxygen, and a hangover leaves you impaired with alcohol still in your system, which is why the regulations set a minimum time and blood-alcohol limit before flight.
Alcohol is a leading impairment factor in accidents, so the FAA tests how it degrades performance, how altitude worsens it, and the bottle-to-throttle rule.
Pilots believe feeling fine means they are fit to fly. Alcohol and its aftereffects impair the vestibular system and judgment while blood levels are still measurable, so the eight-hour rule is a floor, not a guarantee of being unimpaired.
Where to study it
Practice questions on this code
Real questions from the Aviator IQ bank that test this exact area. Answer each to see the correct choice, the full rationale, and the FAA source.
A person may not act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft within what period after consuming any alcoholic beverage?
A crewmember is prohibited from acting when the alcohol concentration in a blood or breath specimen is at or above what value?
Alcohol impairs the cells' ability to use oxygen. Research indicates that drinking one ounce of alcohol can equate to an additional 2,000 feet of physiological altitude. This impairment of cellular respiration is which type of hypoxia?
Oral checkride defense
A code on your report is an area the examiner can revisit. Here is how an examiner might probe it, and how to explain it out loud.
What are the alcohol rules before flight?
No acting as a crewmember within 8 hours of consuming alcohol, not while under the influence, and not with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater. I also account for a hangover, which can impair me even after the 8 hours have passed.
How does altitude change alcohol's effect on you?
Altitude compounds it. Alcohol impairs judgment, coordination, and the inner ear, and reduced oxygen at altitude worsens the impairment, effectively raising my physiological altitude. Feeling fine on the ground is not proof I am fit to fly.
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.