Event LAX96LA343

Factual narrative

On September 20, 1996, at 1545 hours Pacific daylight time, an Aero Commander 690, N840DC, collided with a Grob 102 glider, N22ZB, while climbing through 10,000 feet msl in the vicinity of Truckee, California. Both aircraft sustained substantial damage and neither pilot was injured. The Aero Commander was being operated by Dempsey Construction Corporation of Ketchum, Idaho, as a business flight. The Grob 102 was operated by Soar Truckee and rented by the pilot for a local area personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The Aero Commander pilot announced his departure on runway 28 while taxiing on the unicom frequency of 122.8 Mhz at the Truckee Airport. After departing the pilot turned left and was heading southeast in a climb. The glider departed the Truckee Airport about 1 hour earlier via aero tow and was orbiting left in a thermal in the vicinity of Lookout Mountain about 4 miles south of the Truckee Airport. The glider pilot was monitoring the frequency 123.3 Mhz, an air-to-air frequency used by glider pilots. Moments before the collision, the Aero Commander pilot was tuning a navigation radio. He looked up and saw the glider in his windshield, but was unable to avoid the collision. The glider pilot never saw the Aero Commander. The left wing of the Aero Commander struck the left wing and fuselage of the glider about 9,800 feet msl. Both pilots were able to safely land their airplanes at the Truckee Airport after the collision. The Aero Commander 690, N840DC, collided with the Grob 102 glider, N22ZB, while climbing through 10,000 feet msl 4 miles south of the airport. The Aero Commander pilot had announced his departure on runway 28 on the unicom frequency of 122.8 Mhz while taxiing. After departing, the pilot turned left and was heading southeast in a climb. The glider had departed the airport about 1 hour earlier via aero tow and was orbiting left in a thermal. The glider pilot was monitoring the frequency 123.3 Mhz, an air-to-air frequency used by glider pilots. Moments before the collision, the Aero Commander pilot was tuning a navigation radio. He looked up and saw the glider in his windshield, but was unable to avoid the collision. The glider pilot never saw the Aero Commander. The left wing of the Aero Commander struck the left wing and fuselage of the glider about 9,800 feet msl. Both pilots were able to safely land their airplanes at the Truckee Airport after the collision. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12