Two dead after plane, glider collision in Lake County

LAKE COUNTY, CA (KGO) -- Investigators are looking into the possibility that high winds were a factor in a plane collision that killed two people. A glider and a tow plane crashed into each other around 11 a.m. on Saturday in Lake County.

The crash happened at the Crazy Creek Glider Port. The FAA and NTSB are investigating and are still trying to figure out what happened.

The glider was a Shlecker, that's the smaller of the two remains, while the tow plane was a Piper PA-25. The collision happened when the two aircrafts were trying to land on the same air strip, but they were coming from different directions.

A long time flight instructor said that gliders always have the right of way when landing and that the glider and plane should have been trying to land in the same direction, not opposite.

"Pilots who operate at airports that are not receiving air traffic control services, generally operate on a common radio frequency and try to stay out of each other's way visually and I think it will be part of the investigation why these two planes came together," said FAA spokesperson Laura Brown.

While it's not clear if the high winds played a role in this fatal crash, the instructor said she wouldn't even consider flying in this weather. The victims have not been identified.

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