FAA and NTSB launch probe after two gliders collide mid-air over upstate New York, killing one pilot

From the Newshound archive · first published 20 September 2026.

One pilot is dead and another walked away uninjured after two glider planes collided in mid-air near Edinburg in Saratoga County, New York, on Friday afternoon. The surviving pilot was so shaken he went back up in the air to help search for the missing aircraft. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have launched investigations into what caused the collision.

The crashed glider, a Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2B, plunged into a remote wooded area and took investigators more than two hours to locate by debris.

Airport owner Elayne Wade said the surviving pilot was 'shaken but okay' — then flew again immediately to help find the other glider.