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A C152 pilot reported a partial electrical failure in night conditions and landed at a nearby towered airport without contacting the tower.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1426517 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201702 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Cessna 152 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Electrical Distribution |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10 Flight Crew Total 190 Flight Crew Type 75 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe |
Narrative:
I had just picked up the aircraft at dusk from having an annual from a nearby airport. I had not flown this particular aircraft at night previously. Once I took off it became dark enroute 5 minutes approximately into the flight. I attempted to turn on the cockpit lights; they would not work; and none of the radios would function either. In summary; I just took off in an unfamiliar aircraft and inadvertently experienced a partial electrical system failure. At that point I could not see my aeronautical charts; compass; or radios and did not have a GPS in that aircraft. I flew towards the city lights of ZZZ and landed with no radio communications at ZZZ airport. I was instructed to communicate with the tower; which I did immediately upon landing without incident despite there being air traffic using the airport. I sincerely hope others may benefit from my experience.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A C152 pilot reported a partial electrical failure in night conditions and landed at a nearby towered airport without contacting the Tower.
Narrative: I had just picked up the aircraft at dusk from having an annual from a nearby airport. I had not flown this particular aircraft at night previously. Once I took off it became dark enroute 5 minutes approximately into the flight. I attempted to turn on the cockpit lights; they would not work; and none of the radios would function either. In summary; I just took off in an unfamiliar aircraft and inadvertently experienced a partial electrical system failure. At that point I could not see my aeronautical charts; compass; or radios and did not have a GPS in that aircraft. I flew towards the city lights of ZZZ and landed with no radio communications at ZZZ airport. I was instructed to communicate with the Tower; which I did immediately upon landing without incident despite there being air traffic using the airport. I sincerely hope others may benefit from my experience.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.