NMAC; MIL ACFT WITH HANG GLIDER.

Date: 1995-07 · Aircraft: King Air C90 E90

Anomalies: conflict-nmac|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|inflight-event-encounter-other-unknown|inflight-event-encounter-vfr-in-imc

Synopsis

NMAC; MIL ACFT WITH HANG GLIDER.

Narrative

WHILE ON RADAR VECTORS FOR A RWY 28L LOC APCH; WE EXITED CLOUDS AT 4000 FT (AUTOPLT ENGAGED) AND SAW A HANG GLIDER DIRECTLY IN FRONT AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE OUR KING AIR. WE PASSED DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH THE GLIDER MISSING HIM/HER BY 150-200 FT.' TIME DID NOT PERMIT DISENGAGING THE AUTOPLT AND TAKING EVASIVE ACTION. THE GLIDER WAS INBTWN CLOUD BUILD-UPS; DIRECTLY ABOVE CLASS D (OSU) AND 2 MI FROM ENTERING CLASS C AT CMH. THERE WERE WX WARNINGS FOR SEVERE TSTMS TO THE W OF HIS LOCATION. THIS WAS RPTED TO APCH; TWR; AND THE FSDO AFTER LNDG. 'CONVECTIVE CURRENTS OVER-RULED CLOUD CLRNCS AND COMMON SENSE.' CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR FLIES FOR THE UNITED STATES ARMY IN A UNIT AT CMH. HE HAS NEVER SEEN HANG GLIDER ACTIVITY IN THIS VICINITY BEFORE. HE BELIEVES THAT THE HANG GLIDER WAS SOARING IN THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY THAT WAS PREVALENT THAT DAY. THE HANG GLIDER WAS CLOSE ENOUGH 'TO SEE THE PLT'S BLUE EYES THROUGH HIS GLASSES.' THERE WAS NO TIME FOR EVASIVE ACTION. THERE IS NO HANG GLIDER ACTIVITY LISTED IN THE CMH AREA ON THE CLEVELAND SECTIONAL CHART. THE HANG GLIDER WAS BTWN LAYERS OF CLOUDS; DEFINITELY LESS THAN 2000 FT HORIZLY FROM THE CLOUDS. THE RPTR DID NOT SEE THE HANG GLIDER IN THE CLOUDS.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.