NYC86FA114 · Glaser-Dirks DIRK-DG-400 DIRK-DG-40
Glaser-Dirks DIRK-DG-400 DIRK-DG-40 and Schweizer SGS-1-26B · Accident: midair collision while maneuvering
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC86FA114
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Aircraft 1 · Glaser-Dirks DIRK-DG-400 DIRK-DG-40
- Aircraft type
- Glaser Dirks DIRK-DG-400
- Category
- Glider
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N40MS
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From JULIAN, PATo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Maneuvering
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Midair collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Aircraft 2 · Schweizer SGS-1-26B
- Aircraft type
- Schweizer SGS-1
- Category
- Glider
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N686U
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From JULIAN, PATo not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Maneuvering
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Midair collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Visual lookout, misjudged
- Pilot of other aircraft › Clearance, not maintained
- Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, not attained
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE PLT OF N686U REPORTED HE WAS ESTABLISHED IN A WEAK THERMAL AT AN ALT OF APRX 2500 AGL WHEN TWO OTHER GLIDERS WERE SEEN. ONE AT APRX THE SAME ALT AND ONE BELOW HIS ALT. HE CONTINUED TO STATE THAT THE GLIDER WHICH WAS AT HIS ALT PASSED VERY CLOSE TO BUT UNDERNEATH HIS GLIDER. HE STATED HE MOMENTARILY LOST SIGHT OF THE GLIDER BEFORE SEEING IT TURN AND AND CONTINUE IN THE THERMAL, HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF HIS GLIDERS ATTITUDE HE WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE OTHER GLIDER. N686U WAS THEN STRUCK FROM THE RIGHT REAR BY N40MS. BOTH PLTS THEN LOST CONTROL OF THEIR GLIDERS WHICH DESCENDED TO GROUND IMPACT.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC86FA114
- Event ID
- 20001213X33394
- Case number
- NYC86FA114
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 6acc647f25f2790fc173408b79c99b5cbb795e2d97b171cb866f509f2a73556e; retrieved 2026-09-21T04:35:59.866Z.