Miracle Mid-Air Between NetJets Hawker and Glider

On Monday the Reno Gazette Journal reported a story about a Hawker 800 mid-air colission.

Today the Reno Gazette Journal reported the following story:

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Monday's collision between a corporate jet and a glider south of Carson City.

No one was seriously injured in the impact at about 16,000 feet between the Hawker XP800 jet and the Schleicher glider. The glider pilot, Akihiro Hirao, address unknown, parachuted to safety in the Pine Nut Mountains, authorities said.

Hawker pilot Annette Saunders, 38, with aircraft controls knocked into her lap from the force of the impact, circled the plane around Washoe Lake and made an emergency landing at the Carson City Airport, landing the aircraft on its belly with no wheels.

Carson Sheriff Kenneth Furlong said the cockpit looked like a hand grenade had detonated in it and praised the crew's efforts in landing the jet. Saunders suffered minor injuries, but the co-pilot and three passengers were not injured.

The jet was leased from NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire-Hathaway.

NetJets released a statement acknowledging the crash and praising the efforts of the crew to land the jet safely at 3:18 p.m.

"NetJets wishes to praise the quick and professional actions of the pilots of 879QS," the company said in a statement. "The pilots exhibited outstanding airmanship under extraordinary circumstances enabling them to land safely."

The flight originated at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, Calif., north of San Diego and was headed for Reno.

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