Narrative:

We were en route to lan at our cruise of 6;000 ft and 250 KTS in communication with lan approach. Lan issued us a descent to 3;000 ft at pilot's discretion. We were 40-50 miles southeast of the airport; [so] I held off on the descent. Lan approach called VFR traffic at 1-2 o'clock. We looked and replied no contact. TCAS displayed the target as well. Lan informed us that the previous traffic was no factor and called additional VFR traffic at our 10-11 o'clock 400 ft below us; not in communication. The first officer and I both saw the traffic. The TCAS showed the traffic as well. It was going to pass from our left to right and our paths were going to cross. I asked the first officer to ask for a left deviation so we would pass behind the traffic for added safety. The deviation was approved and we turned 10-15 degrees to the left. On the new heading I thought I saw additional traffic at our 12 o'clock same altitude. I asked the first officer if he saw anything and he replied no. I looked at the TCAS display and no traffic was shown there either. I continued to look out trying to discern what I was seeing; if anything. I then asked the first officer again if he saw anything. I started to make something out and I replied; 'it looks like a big bird.' the first officer replied;'yeah I see something too.' about that time the object came into focus as it made a left bank. I then could tell it was a hang glider and we were on an immediate collision course at a high closure rate. I immediately disconnected the autopilot and made a descending right turn. The hang glider passed off our left wing with in 500 ft horizontal and at our altitude. We informed ATC of the near miss and they were just as surprised as we were to hear of a glider at that altitude. He then asked if we were back on course and we replied; 'yes.' the flight landed uneventfully. The avoidance maneuver was not aggressive enough that the flight attendant noticed; so no annulment was made. After landing I called the controller working our flight to try to find out some more information and if there was any possible way to find out where this person launched from. He was surprised to hear how close it was. He informed me that there are a couple of glider parks around; but there is no real way to track or find out since they are in uncontrolled airspace. When the traffic was picked up it was at our altitude heading directly away from us. It had very little profile and only when it banked I was able to make a positive contact that there was something in front of us. This all happened in about 30 seconds after requesting the turn for the VFR traffic. The only possible solution that comes to mind is to reach out to glider/ultralight parks where we have frequent low altitude flights in and out. Provide them with some awareness of our routes; they are fairly consistent. Perhaps a VFR map highlighted as danger areas. I have previous experience as a jump pilot in uncontrolled airspace and that information was amiable to us. We knew where inbound and outbound arrival corridors were and steered clear.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain approaching LAN described a near miss with a hang glider at 6;000 FT.

Narrative: We were en route to LAN at our cruise of 6;000 FT and 250 KTS in communication with LAN Approach. LAN issued us a descent to 3;000 FT at pilot's discretion. We were 40-50 miles southeast of the airport; [so] I held off on the descent. LAN Approach called VFR traffic at 1-2 o'clock. We looked and replied no contact. TCAS displayed the target as well. LAN informed us that the previous traffic was no factor and called additional VFR traffic at our 10-11 o'clock 400 FT below us; not in communication. The First Officer and I both saw the traffic. The TCAS showed the traffic as well. It was going to pass from our left to right and our paths were going to cross. I asked the First Officer to ask for a left deviation so we would pass behind the traffic for added safety. The deviation was approved and we turned 10-15 degrees to the left. On the new heading I thought I saw additional traffic at our 12 o'clock same altitude. I asked the First Officer if he saw anything and he replied no. I looked at the TCAS display and no traffic was shown there either. I continued to look out trying to discern what I was seeing; if anything. I then asked the First Officer again if he saw anything. I started to make something out and I replied; 'It looks like a big bird.' The First Officer replied;'Yeah I see something too.' About that time the object came into focus as it made a left bank. I then could tell it was a hang glider and we were on an immediate collision course at a high closure rate. I immediately disconnected the autopilot and made a descending right turn. The hang glider passed off our left wing with in 500 FT horizontal and at our altitude. We informed ATC of the near miss and they were just as surprised as we were to hear of a glider at that altitude. He then asked if we were back on course and we replied; 'yes.' The flight landed uneventfully. The avoidance maneuver was not aggressive enough that the Flight Attendant noticed; so no annulment was made. After landing I called the Controller working our flight to try to find out some more information and if there was any possible way to find out where this person launched from. He was surprised to hear how close it was. He informed me that there are a couple of glider parks around; but there is no real way to track or find out since they are in uncontrolled airspace. When the traffic was picked up it was at our altitude heading directly away from us. It had very little profile and only when it banked I was able to make a positive contact that there was something in front of us. This all happened in about 30 seconds after requesting the turn for the VFR traffic. The only possible solution that comes to mind is to reach out to glider/ultralight parks where we have frequent low altitude flights in and out. Provide them with some awareness of our routes; they are fairly consistent. Perhaps a VFR map highlighted as danger areas. I have previous experience as a jump pilot in uncontrolled airspace and that information was amiable to us. We knew where inbound and outbound arrival corridors were and steered clear.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.