An aircraft is at FL120, flying heading 180 (south) toward a mountainous area. The highest terrain ahead is 9,500 ft. The aircraft has minimum obstacle clearance requirement of 1,000 ft. The minimum safe altitude for this aircraft on heading 180 in this area is:
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A
10,500 ft (FL105 approximately) — terrain 9,500 ft + 1,000 ft required clearance
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B
9,500 ft — the aircraft only needs to be above terrain height
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C
10,000 ft — standard safe altitude rounded to the nearest 1,000 ft
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D
12,000 ft — the current altitude and it should not descend