Narrative:

We departed psp for lax and had a very close call with a glider in the banning pass. Our specifics: pdz 072 degree radial at around 34 DME, flying into an 11 O'clock sun, out of 11500 ft for 12000 ft. Details: flying into the sun, I noticed a white wing in the near distance disappear under the forward right windshield. At the same time, the first officer called out traffic, a glider, approximately 200 yds off the right wing and 150-200 ft lower than us, in a left descending turn. The paths of both aircraft were diverging at the point we noticed the glider, with us climbing west on the airway and the glider heading east behind us and appearing to be descending according to the first officer. I immediately notified ATC, who said he had nothing on radar. There was no traffic on TCASII. Contributing factors to this event were the position of the sun, our closure speed in the climb of approximately 180 KIAS, and the fact that the glider was most likely in the 3 O'clock position of a left turn (relative to the turn only, not us), with a very high bank angle going away from us (called thermaling), at the time we approached it. So we would only have been able to see a thin profile until the glider hit the 12 O'clock position in his turn and the top of the wing became invisible, which, in fact, is exactly what happened. It has come to my knowledge that the hemet airport is a center of glider activity in the area, if it helps in passing the word on to the glider folks about airline operations. In the future, especially on the weekend, I will be much more aware of possible glider operations in that area.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: E120 CREW HAD A NON RADIO, NON XPONDER GLIDER HAD LESS THAN LEGAL SEPARATION OVER BANNING PASS IN SCT CLASS E.

Narrative: WE DEPARTED PSP FOR LAX AND HAD A VERY CLOSE CALL WITH A GLIDER IN THE BANNING PASS. OUR SPECIFICS: PDZ 072 DEG RADIAL AT AROUND 34 DME, FLYING INTO AN 11 O'CLOCK SUN, OUT OF 11500 FT FOR 12000 FT. DETAILS: FLYING INTO THE SUN, I NOTICED A WHITE WING IN THE NEAR DISTANCE DISAPPEAR UNDER THE FORWARD R WINDSHIELD. AT THE SAME TIME, THE FO CALLED OUT TFC, A GLIDER, APPROX 200 YDS OFF THE R WING AND 150-200 FT LOWER THAN US, IN A L DSNDING TURN. THE PATHS OF BOTH ACFT WERE DIVERGING AT THE POINT WE NOTICED THE GLIDER, WITH US CLBING W ON THE AIRWAY AND THE GLIDER HEADING E BEHIND US AND APPEARING TO BE DSNDING ACCORDING TO THE FO. I IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED ATC, WHO SAID HE HAD NOTHING ON RADAR. THERE WAS NO TFC ON TCASII. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THIS EVENT WERE THE POS OF THE SUN, OUR CLOSURE SPD IN THE CLB OF APPROX 180 KIAS, AND THE FACT THAT THE GLIDER WAS MOST LIKELY IN THE 3 O'CLOCK POS OF A L TURN (RELATIVE TO THE TURN ONLY, NOT US), WITH A VERY HIGH BANK ANGLE GOING AWAY FROM US (CALLED THERMALING), AT THE TIME WE APCHED IT. SO WE WOULD ONLY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE A THIN PROFILE UNTIL THE GLIDER HIT THE 12 O'CLOCK POS IN HIS TURN AND THE TOP OF THE WING BECAME INVISIBLE, WHICH, IN FACT, IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. IT HAS COME TO MY KNOWLEDGE THAT THE HEMET ARPT IS A CTR OF GLIDER ACTIVITY IN THE AREA, IF IT HELPS IN PASSING THE WORD ON TO THE GLIDER FOLKS ABOUT AIRLINE OPS. IN THE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY ON THE WEEKEND, I WILL BE MUCH MORE AWARE OF POSSIBLE GLIDER OPS IN THAT AREA.

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.