NTSB Identification: WPR12LA250A
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, June 07, 2012 in Sparks, NV
Aircraft: SCHEMPP-HIRTH STANDARD CIRRUS, registration: N943SB
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 7, 2012, at 1446 Pacific daylight time, a Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus glider, N943SB, and a Centrair C101A glider, N101LV, collided in mid-air near Sparks, Nevada. The private pilot in N943SB and the commercial pilot in N101LV were not injured. N943SB was being operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91; N101LV was being operated by the Bay Area Soaring Associates, Inc., under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Neither pilot had filed a flight plan for their local flight from Air Sailing Gliderport (NV23), Sparks. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. Both gliders had been towed aloft approximately 30 to 45 minutes before the accident.

Both pilots reported maneuvering over some hilly terrain about 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl) and were looking for convective lift when the collision occurred. N943SB had approximately 2 feet of its left wingtip nearly sheared off and half of its left aileron was missing. Additionally, its fuselage was compressed and wrinkled at the root of the left wing. N101LV had 2 feet of its right wingtip sheared off and half of its left aileron was missing. Both gliders were able to return to their launch gliderport and land safely.

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