Incident
On June 7, 2012, at 1446 Pacific daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus glider, registration N943SB, and a Centrair C101A glider, registration N101LV, collided in mid-air near Sparks, Nevada. The private pilot operating the Schempp-Hirth and the commercial pilot operating the Centrair were not injured. Both gliders sustained substantial damage.
Flight Details
The Schempp-Hirth was operated by a private individual under 14 CFR Part 91. The Centrair was operated by Bay Area Soaring Associates, Inc., also under Part 91. Neither pilot had filed a flight plan for their local flights from Air Sailing Gliderport (NV23) in Sparks. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. Both gliders had been towed aloft approximately 30 to 45 minutes before the collision.
Pilot Accounts
Both pilots reported awareness that other gliders were operating in the same area and that they were maneuvering over hilly terrain in search of convective lift. The Schempp-Hirth pilot stated he did not see the Centrair approaching head-on until it passed directly overhead. The Centrair pilot reported being in level flight descending through 7,000 feet above mean sea level when he suddenly saw the Schempp-Hirth appear beneath the nose of his glider, slightly to his right, heading in the opposite direction. Neither pilot had time to react. The left wingtip of the Schempp-Hirth collided with the right wingtip of the Centrair. Both gliders returned to the launch gliderport and landed safely.
Aircraft Damage
The Schempp-Hirth sustained approximately 2 feet of its left wingtip nearly sheared off, about 75 percent of its left aileron missing, and compression and wrinkling of the fuselage at the root of the left wing. The Centrair had about 2 feet of its right wingtip sheared off and approximately half of its right aileron missing.