| Crash location | 32.493333°N, 111.495000°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Marana, AZ
32.436738°N, 111.225382°W 16.2 miles away |
| Tail number | N500JN |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 25 Apr 2010 |
| Aircraft type | PZL-Swidnik PW-5 |
| Additional details: | None |
The glider pilot had been checked out in the glider the day of the accident and it was the first time she had flown this make and model. Approximately two hours into the flight, she smelled a rubber burning smell and all of her electronics ceased operating. She initiated a turn back to her departure airport but due to her lack of experience, she was unable to find a thermal and the glider continued to descend. During the forced, off-field landing, the glider impacted trees and desert brush. Post accident examination of the glider revealed that the cable supplying power to the removable data logger was found pinched against a metal computer port. This resulted in an electrical short and disabled the glide computer, global positioning system, and the vertical speed indicator.
The pilot's inability to find thermal lift. Contributing to the accident was the failure of a computer that provided glide information and vertical speed instrumentation as a result of an improperly routed electrical cable that caused a short in the electrical system and the pilot's lack of experience in the glider.