Saw this on another site....appears to be confirmed.

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/09/uni...llision-ohare/

 

Some 13 years ago I was towing a Blaník L-13 with a Pawnee from 92A to KTHA some 8500 feet North of Chattanooga.
No transponder...

I was so high because the cloud cover was really low and I wanted to give options to the glider if the rope broke (they do break sometimes).

I called Chattanooga approach and advised them of my altitude, heading and intentions, and they handed me a transponder code that I rejected with 'negative transponder'.
And I was advised to stay clear of the class C airspace which I was some 5-10 miles away.

And I kept going in my merry way...

Some 5 minutes after that communication I heard this deafening roar (over my engine) and glanced over the mirror a regional jet narrowing missing the tail of the gilder.

Remember, this is a 200 foot-long aircraft!

I immediately got a call from the screaming glider pilot (over another radio):
**** DID YOU SEEEEE THAAAAT!!! ****

Hell I did...

I never told Chattanooga about the episode and I never knew if the jet pilot(s) ever saw us, but it was a sobering experience.

I have also seen airplanes some 50 ft away from a hanglider while I was desperately circling steep turns trying to get their attention.

See and avoid....

 

Geez! Nice save guys!

 

Towing a glider VFR on top, no transponder, near protected airspace full of IFR turbojet traffic? Nice.

 

Man, quick to judge...
No, it wasn't 'on top' (as defined anyway).

This is East Tennessee, where we happen to have fog in the ground A LOT.
It was a 'severe clear' day over a coat of low lying clouds 7000+ feet below us.
The 'top' of the clouds was 50-100 feet above the surface, but the 'holes' in the blanket were far and few in between.

And although the terrain is not necessarily mountainous, it is not Kansas either.
The rationale was to keep the glider high enough to allow them to find a hole over a suitable landing site in the case of an emergency.
And I am done posting.

 

That's the definition of VFR on top. So your plan was to hope that he could find a hole in the mist, and touch down on whatever patch of dirt that may have been?

 

Hell we our based on the extended final of a busy class B airport runway a few miles outside the Bravo and we tow to 5000 AGL. We have had airlines go under the gliders numerous times. Approach knows we are there.

 

Heading back to the Mensa meeting, huh? You'll be missed.

 

Ah, it's VFR over the top. VFR on top per the AIM is an IFR clearance.

"A pilot on an IFR flight plan operating in VFR weather conditions, may request VFR-on-top in lieu of an assigned altitude. This permits a pilot to select an altitude or flight level of their choice (subject to any ATC restrictions.)"(

 

AIM is not a governing document, FARs are. What's legal isn't always safe, no doubt they were VFR. Towing a glider over an undercast/fog with the only option being "try to find a hole" is, as Awax insinuated, is stupid.