I don't know if the wave window was open or not. This area has had several near misses over the years. In addition to local and KRNO traffic many flights to and from KLAX and KSFO transit overhead. I fly gliders, my single engine, and my company"s B-747 through here quite often and keep my eyes outside all the time. I usually don't see the gliders unless their wings reflect the sun. Be sure and check out the pictures at the link. I was at the airport and had left camera at home wouldn't you know!
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/...NEWS/108290055
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...608290365/1144
Collision with glider forces jet's crash-landing; none hurt
STEVE TIMKO
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 8/29/2006
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A jet made a safe landing at the Carson City Airport after colliding Monday with a glider about 3:10 p.m. No one was seriously hurt
CUTLINE WRITER IS LISA J. TOLDA/RENO GAZETTE-JOURN
A jet made a safe landing at the Carson City Airport after colliding Monday with a glider about 3:10 p.m. No one was seriously hurt
With aircraft instruments in her lap after a midair collision with a glider, a charter pilot regained control over the Pine Nut Mountains, circled Washoe Lake and landed the twin-engine jet on its belly at the Carson City Airport, passengers said Monday afternoon.
The glider pilot parachuted to safety in the Pine Nut Mountains after the collision, to the surprise of search and rescue workers.
"I'm utterly amazed that he's alive and has no significant injuries," said Capt. Jeff Page of the Lyon County Sheriff's Office.
The glider pilot, identified as Akihiro Hirao of Japan, was found by Washoe Tribal Police at the mouth of Lone Pine Canyon south of Gardnerville, Page said.
The twin engine Hawker XP800 and the glider collided about 3:10 p.m. at what the Federal Aviation Administration said was about 16,000 feet near the border of Douglas and Lyon counties.
Hirao declined to talk to news media, but Richard Mirgon, director of emergency ommunications and emergency management for Douglas County, said Hirao did what he was trained to do after the impact.
"He said he immediately did the emergency procedures and started to get the windscreen off and get out of the aircraft," Mirgon said. "He knew immediately he had lost a wing."
His parachute opened and Hirao floated to the ground, Mirgon said.
"He said when he touched the ground, he checked his watch and it said 3:15," Mirgon said.
Crews found the parachute and then tribal police found Hirao walking out at about 5:45 p.m. He underwent a medical examination and was taken to Minden-Tahoe Airport, where a group of people Mirgon described as his friends, a partner and people from Soar Minden gave him a loud cheer.
It was good news on the charter jet too, which was flying from suburban San Diego to Reno.
Passengers said the charter jet pilot, whose name was not available, suffered a cut between her lip and chin but no one else was injured.
"This woman is a miracle worker," passenger Evy Chipman of Incline Village said of the pilot.
The pilot, co-pilot and three passengers were just beginning descent into Reno about an hour after leaving San Diego, passenger Steve DiZio of Incline Village said.
"There was a loud explosion," DiZio said, and the window directly across from him cracked.
Almost immediately the jet took a right turn and dropped sharply several thousand feet, DiZio said.
Mike Chipman of Incline Village, Evy's husband, said he heard a loud noise. He also recalled the aircraft swerving hard and to the right and that the pilot was able to stabilize the jet quickly.
They looped around Washoe Lake and the crew said they would not be able to get the landing gear down so the jet would go in on its belly, DiZio said. The landing was "perfectly smooth," he said.
"I've had wheels-down landings that were a lot rougher," DiZio said.
Neither DiZio nor Evy Chipman felt panic between the mid-air collision and the time the jet landed.
DiZio said he felt anxious.
"But what could you do?" he explained.
Carson City sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Schuette said the pilot only saw the glider a split second before impact.
Parts of the glider were imbedded in the nose of the jet, Schuette said.
The jet was made by Raytheon Co. in 1998 and can carry eight passengers at up to 500 mph, the FAA reported.
With Associated Press information.