Narrative:

Prior to the event; tower controller in charge received a phone call from the FBO saying she was in contact with an aircraft that was an emergency and lost all electrical. Controller in charge called downstairs to report to osic. We scanned the d-brite and did not notice any unidentified targets that were in the vicinity headed inbound. A little while later; we noticed an em (7700) alert on the screen; but no corresponding target. I as local and ground controller combined; scanned across the airport and noticed a small aircraft sitting on taxiway left; clear of and appearing to have just landed runway 14/32. Tower controller in charge called the FBO and they confirmed that it was the emergency aircraft. We relayed taxi instructions through the phone and the aircraft taxied to the ramp without incident. Traffic was about 20 miles out for the visual approach to runway 32. Better communication would have been helpful. The FBO provided the pilot's cell phone number; but I was not aware of anyone trying to make contact with him. Also; we could have possibly gotten more information as to a location of the aircraft through the FBO since they were talking to the pilot. Any additional information would have helped greatly since I was not aware of the aircraft's location until he had landed and was sitting on the taxiway. With better information; we could have been prepared and made certain the runway was clear and had crash fire rescue equipment vehicles ready alongside the runway. We were lucky no one was departing. A delay of 5 minutes could also have been tragic.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described an emergency event resulting in an unnoticed landing of an aircraft with total electrical failure. The reporter chronicled a significant lack of communication/coordination within ATC.

Narrative: Prior to the event; Tower CIC received a phone call from the FBO saying she was in contact with an aircraft that was an emergency and lost all electrical. CIC called downstairs to report to OSIC. We scanned the D-BRITE and did not notice any unidentified targets that were in the vicinity headed inbound. A little while later; we noticed an EM (7700) alert on the screen; but no corresponding target. I as Local and Ground Controller combined; scanned across the airport and noticed a small aircraft sitting on Taxiway L; clear of and appearing to have just landed Runway 14/32. Tower CIC called the FBO and they confirmed that it was the emergency aircraft. We relayed taxi instructions through the phone and the aircraft taxied to the ramp without incident. Traffic was about 20 miles out for the visual approach to Runway 32. Better communication would have been helpful. The FBO provided the pilot's cell phone number; but I was not aware of anyone trying to make contact with him. Also; we could have possibly gotten more information as to a location of the aircraft through the FBO since they were talking to the pilot. Any additional information would have helped greatly since I was not aware of the aircraft's location until he had landed and was sitting on the taxiway. With better information; we could have been prepared and made certain the runway was clear and had CFR vehicles ready alongside the runway. We were lucky no one was departing. A delay of 5 minutes could also have been tragic.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.