A cheer went up at the Minden-Tahoe Airport when searchers learned a Japanese glider pilot who bailed out over the Pine Nut Mountains was found alive and ambulatory.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue team members found the pilot at about 6:45 p.m., nearly three hours after he collided with an executive jet in the skies over Douglas County. Lyon County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Page said the pilot was found at the mouth of Lone Pine Canyon after searchers found a parachute and harness not far from there.

“He has no apparent injuries but they will take him to get checked out,” said Page, who was handling public information duties for the search. “ He hit a jet at 300 knots and had the presence of mind to bail out. He is a very lucky man.”

The pilot was the only person inside the glider when the two aircraft collided in mid-air about five miles south of the Douglas-Carson line. Page said the pilot took off from the Minden airport and came to Carson Valley to fly gliders.

 

The pilot’s name was not released.

The occupants of the jet landed safely at Carson City Airport. Douglas, Carson and Lyon search and rescue teams participated in the search.

On August 28, 2006, at 1506 Pacific daylight time, a Raytheon Aircraft Company Hawker 800XP transport airplane, N879QS, and a Schleicher ASW27-18 glider, N7729, collided in midair about 10 miles west-northwest of Smith, Nevada. Both airplanes sustained substantial damage. The flight crew of N879QS (both airline transport pilots) sustained minor injuries, while their three passengers were not injured. The private pilot of N7729 received minor injuries. The Hawker 800XP was fractionally owned by 12 corporations who delegated the management of the airplane to NetJets, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. That flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 Subpart K as an executive/corporate flight. The glider was registered to a private individual and was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. An instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for N879QS, which began its flight from Carlsbad, California, at 1400, and was destined for Reno, Nevada. No flight plan had been filed for N7729, which was on a local flight that had departed Minden, Nevada, at 1300. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the collision.

Hawker 800XP Flight Crew Statements:

According to interviews conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, the flight crew was cleared by air traffic control from 16,000 feet to 11,000 feet. The captain was the flying pilot and the first officer was working the radios. Oakland Center transferred the flight to Reno approach control just prior to the collision. The first officer tuned in the Reno approach control radio frequency and looked out the right cockpit window. He then heard the captain shout and the audio tone for the autopilot, and noted that the captain had pushed the control yoke down and to the right. As he was turning his head to see what was going on, he observed the captain's side of the instrument panel "explode."

The captain reported that they were cleared to descend and as she looked outside she noted something out of the corner of her eye to the left. As she looked to the left, she noted a glider filling the windshield. She moved the control yoke down and to the right in an attempt to avoid the glider, but to no avail.

The first officer and captain reported that the cockpit was noisy with wind after the collision. The first officer attempted to communicate with Reno controllers but had difficulty. The captain recovered the airplane as the first officer communicated to Reno that they had some sort of structural problem (he later learned that they had collided with a glider) and declared an emergency. The crew asked for vectors to the Reno airport as their instrument panel was severely damaged by the impact. As the flight progressed north they spotted an airport and asked air traffic controllers if the airport was at their 11 o'clock. The controllers responded by indicating that the airport was at their 11 o'clock at 20 miles. The crew continued to the airport they observed (Carson City) and elected to land.

As the flight neared Carson City the flight crew noted that the right engine shut down as a result of the impact. The crew entered a straight-in approach for runway 27 at Carson City and attempted to lower the landing gear. The landing gear would not extend normally, and due to the lack of instrumentation, the captain was not satisfied with the aircraft's speed and altitude. The crew elected to enter a left downwind for runway 9 instead. The airplane overshot the final approach for runway 9 and entered a left downwind for runway 27. As the captain slowed the airplane for final approach she asked the first officer to assist in controlling the airplane bank and pitch attitudes. The airplane touched down on the runway centerline and came to rest uneventfully.

Glider Pilot Statement:

According to the glider pilot, he had last flown in the Minden area in 2000. On the morning of the accident, he received a flight review in a DG-505 and then flew his first flight in the accident glider. He started his second flight in the accident glider at 1300. He intended on thermal flying for about 5 hours and wanted to stay in the local area to familiarize himself with the accident glider. He flew around the local area and entered a thermal on the southwest side of Mt. Seagul. He entered a 30-degree left bank spiraling climb at 50 knots. During the climb, as he turned toward the south, he saw a jet aircraft heading toward him. He estimated that 1 second passed between the time he noted the jet aircraft and the time they collided. He said he may have entered a slight nose down control input, but it wasn't enough to avoid the collision.

The Hawker jet impacted the right wing of the glider near the outboard wing joint (the glider is constructed of a 4-piece wing; two inboard wing sections and two outboard wing sections). The glider entered a flat spin after the impact, so the pilot elected to remove the cockpit canopy and bail out. After removing the canopy, the pilot checked his ripcord location, unbuckled his restraint system, and bailed out of the glider. The pilot pulled the ripcord and the parachute successfully opened. During his descent, he observed the glider spiral to the ground below him and noted that the left wing and inboard section of the right wing remained attached to the fuselage. He landed uneventfully, but sustained minor injuries when the parachute dragged him along the ground. The pilot waited near his landing area for 1.5 hours before he began walking toward Carson Valley. After 2 hours 10 minutes of walking along a dirt road, he was picked up by local authorities.

Reno Flying Area:

According to the Reno Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) personnel, it is common for them to bring flights in from the south, east of the 157 radial from Mustang VOR (very high omnidirectional range navigation facility). This provides room for departing aircraft over the Carson Valley (west of the 157 radial). The inbound flights to Reno are usually descended from 16,000 feet to 11,000 feet in the area of the collision. The TRACON personnel indicated that it is not uncommon for arriving and departing air traffic to obtain a TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) warning from gliders operating in the area.

According to the local glider operators, the area of the collision is very popular with gliders for the thermal lift provided by the Pine Nut Ridge (Mt. Seagul is located on the south side of the Pine Nut Ridge). The gliders can reach altitudes of 18,000 feet (FL 180) in that area. If they care to go higher than FL 180 in that area, they either need to have a transponder with mode C capabilities or activate a glider operation box that provides clearance from arriving traffic. According to the local glider pilots, this box is usually activated during wave flying conditions, and that during thermal flying the pilots stay below FL 180.

Approximate Collision Location:

Review of preliminary radar data provided by Reno TRACON personnel, the collision likely occurred at 16,000 feet mean sea level at a latitude and longitude position of 38 degrees 50 minutes 41 seconds north and 119 degrees 29 minutes 50 seconds west.

Aircraft Equipment:

The Hawker 800XP was equipped with a TCAS warning system. TCAS is an airborne collision avoidance system based on radar beacon signals, which operates independent of ground-based equipment. TCAS-I generates traffic advisories only. TCAS-II generates traffic advisories, and resolution (collision avoidance) advisories in the vertical plane. For an aircraft equipped with TCAS to receive other traffic information, it must receive beacon information from the transponder installed on other local aircraft.

The glider was equipped with a panel mounted communication radio, global positioning system (GPS) unit, and a transponder; however, the pilot did not turn on the GPS and transponder. The transponder's activation is not required for glider operations (for more details see 14 CFR Part 91.215). According to the glider pilot, he did not turn on the transponder because he was only intending on remaining in the local glider area, and because he wanted to reserve his batteries for radio use. The glider was equipped with two batteries (one main and one spare), however, due to the previous glider flights, the pilot was unsure of the remaining charge in the battery.

Weather Information:

At 1456, the weather observation facility located at RNO reported the following information: wind from 280 degrees at 11 knots with gusts to 17 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; a few clouds at 11,000 feet; temperature 34 degrees Celsius; dew point -04 degrees Celsius; and an altimeter setting of 30.01 inches of mercury.