Narrative:

We were descending from 11000 ft to 9000 ft. Captain was flying and I was performing approach checklist. Captain: 'what the h--- is that balloon doing up here?' I looked up and immediately spotted the object at our altitude and 5-10 degrees left of our flight path. As there was no relative movement it took 1-2 seconds for us to realize that the object was a sailplane flying left to right, perpendicular to our flight path and the glider began to get bigger very rapidly. I called 'up, up, up!' and began to reach for the controls as the captain had not begun evasive action. He stated 'I've got it' and rolled approximately 60 degrees right. As soon as he commenced the hard turn, I lost sight of the target. The captain was able to maintain visual with the glider and reported that we passed about 50 ft immediately in front of the glider. He stated that as we passed by, he could clearly see the glider pilot, complete with a white baseball cap, looking away from us towards central phx. It was quite obvious that he did not see us until we were past, although he probably had a very rough encounter with our wake. We reported to ATC that we had come 'very close to a glider.' they responded that there were no radar returns in the vicinity. 2-3 mins later an air carrier 737 reported seeing the glider 2000 ft lower. From his first call to passing the glider was about 5-6 seconds. Our encounter occurred near the lake pleasant airport where numerous glider operations occur daily. Although I believe we were just outside class B and, therefore, the glider pilot was not technically illegal, he was flying in a very busy area. (An air carrier 737 nearly hit a hang glider in a widely publicized incident in the same area a month earlier.) furthermore, an air carrier 737 and ourselves both passed within 1/4 mi of a sailplane on the arlin 9 arrival 2 weeks earlier (that guy did, however, bust the class B).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR LTT NMAC WITH SAILPLANE.

Narrative: WE WERE DSNDING FROM 11000 FT TO 9000 FT. CAPT WAS FLYING AND I WAS PERFORMING APCH CHKLIST. CAPT: 'WHAT THE H--- IS THAT BALLOON DOING UP HERE?' I LOOKED UP AND IMMEDIATELY SPOTTED THE OBJECT AT OUR ALT AND 5-10 DEGS L OF OUR FLT PATH. AS THERE WAS NO RELATIVE MOVEMENT IT TOOK 1-2 SECONDS FOR US TO REALIZE THAT THE OBJECT WAS A SAILPLANE FLYING L TO R, PERPENDICULAR TO OUR FLT PATH AND THE GLIDER BEGAN TO GET BIGGER VERY RAPIDLY. I CALLED 'UP, UP, UP!' AND BEGAN TO REACH FOR THE CTLS AS THE CAPT HAD NOT BEGUN EVASIVE ACTION. HE STATED 'I'VE GOT IT' AND ROLLED APPROX 60 DEGS R. AS SOON AS HE COMMENCED THE HARD TURN, I LOST SIGHT OF THE TARGET. THE CAPT WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN VISUAL WITH THE GLIDER AND RPTED THAT WE PASSED ABOUT 50 FT IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF THE GLIDER. HE STATED THAT AS WE PASSED BY, HE COULD CLRLY SEE THE GLIDER PLT, COMPLETE WITH A WHITE BASEBALL CAP, LOOKING AWAY FROM US TOWARDS CENTRAL PHX. IT WAS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT HE DID NOT SEE US UNTIL WE WERE PAST, ALTHOUGH HE PROBABLY HAD A VERY ROUGH ENCOUNTER WITH OUR WAKE. WE RPTED TO ATC THAT WE HAD COME 'VERY CLOSE TO A GLIDER.' THEY RESPONDED THAT THERE WERE NO RADAR RETURNS IN THE VICINITY. 2-3 MINS LATER AN ACR 737 RPTED SEEING THE GLIDER 2000 FT LOWER. FROM HIS FIRST CALL TO PASSING THE GLIDER WAS ABOUT 5-6 SECONDS. OUR ENCOUNTER OCCURRED NEAR THE LAKE PLEASANT ARPT WHERE NUMEROUS GLIDER OPS OCCUR DAILY. ALTHOUGH I BELIEVE WE WERE JUST OUTSIDE CLASS B AND, THEREFORE, THE GLIDER PLT WAS NOT TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL, HE WAS FLYING IN A VERY BUSY AREA. (AN ACR 737 NEARLY HIT A HANG GLIDER IN A WIDELY PUBLICIZED INCIDENT IN THE SAME AREA A MONTH EARLIER.) FURTHERMORE, AN ACR 737 AND OURSELVES BOTH PASSED WITHIN 1/4 MI OF A SAILPLANE ON THE ARLIN 9 ARR 2 WKS EARLIER (THAT GUY DID, HOWEVER, BUST THE CLASS B).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.