On Feb 7, 3:02*pm, None wrote:

From the description the Cirrus pilot was just not looking ....

Probably wrong:
I have done a geometric analysis of cockpit visibility.
- First, sharp vision -- the fovea -- is only about 1% of the sphere
surrounding us. Our brain integrates peripheral vision and
interpolates detail gathered from the scanning that the eyes do
unconsciously.
- Second, consider all the space eclipsed by stuff:
- the bill of your cap
- the whole of the aircraft beneath you (the Cirrus was descending,
one account says)
- the panel and the sun visor
- the TCAS unit standing on top of the panel
- everything behind you in all directions
- Third, the fact that the aircraft you're about to collide with, even
if it's in your field of view (only about 25% of the sphere) is a
speck on the windscreen that isn't moving -- it's just growing. Our
vision is very sensitive to movement, but insensitive to growth. It's
the movement that directs our gaze, to cause foveal vision to capture
a clear impression of the moving object.
- So: by what miracle of chance do you expect the Cirrus pilot to have
seen through his airplane, to have glimpsed the Pawnee?

*I don't want to be insensitive to the family of the Cirrus pilot, but the
fault was his...In my experience, many IFR pilots
just don't look out for VFR traffic and expect ATC to keep them clear of ALL traffic.

How often have you been the IFR pilot flying with the aid of ATC in
VMC, in a busy airspace? Other traffic is VERY difficult to see even
when one knows altitude and azimuth; much traffic, even collision
traffic, cannot be seen because both aircraft are eclipsed from the
pilot by their own aircraft.
In addition, VFR aircraft often do not check in with ATC to verify
their altitude, or have non-encoding transponders, so that's a
mystery. And then there's the fact that some of us are essentially
invisible to ATC even with a transponder: when we thermal, we're
relatively stationary to radar, which then puts us in "coast" mode,
and removes our blip from the display.
The only way to mitigate this risk effectively is to mandate that
all aircraft, regardless of class, carry operating anticollision
devices.
Unfortunately, the rule-making process is so slow that by the time
any new thing gets through, it's at least decade-old technology and
therefore the target of flames from people who know about the new
technology (ADS-B v. FLARM, for example)
In this regard, at the SSA convention 2 weeks ago, one of the
European attendees said that now that FLARM is established, too many
glider pilots are flying with their eyes in the cockpit and depending
too much on FLARM. Complacency affects every one of us.

Some news articles that contain additional information:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_14352511
The most complete photos, videos, and summary.

From http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...00/detail.html
"The Boulder County Coroner has identified the third victim, the pilot
of the Piper Pawnee, as Alexander Howard Gilmer, 25, of Evergreen. His
family asked for their privacy.
On his MySpace page, he described himself as a base jumper, sky diver,
pilot and marine."

"The glider narrowly avoided disaster after pilot Reuben Bakker cut
his craft loose from the ill-fated Piper seconds before the collision,
landing safely 3 miles away and saving his life and those of his
passenger and her 11-year-old son. Their names were not available.

"The glider narrowly avoided disaster after pilot Reuben Bakker cut
his craft loose from the ill-fated Piper seconds before the collision,
landing safely 3 miles away and saving his life and those of his
passenger and her 11-year-old son. Their names were not available.

The glider narrowly avoided disaster after pilot Reuben Bakker cut his
craft loose from the ill-fated Piper seconds before the collision,
landing safely 3 miles away and saving his life and those of his
passenger and her 11-year-old son. Their names were not available.

From http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14355506
The glider pilot was Reuben Bakker...

From http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14350203
Sue Patton, 53, and her 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Weller, ran
outside just in time to see two people plunge out of the plane. Patton
said it appeared to her that they jumped.
"The plane was burning really strong," she said. "They really didn't
have a choice.""