A pilot reported a loss of electrical power at night and diverting to a towered airport.

Attributes
ACN	1714843
Time
Date	202001
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	OSU.Airport
State Reference	OH
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Electrical Power
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 12 Flight Crew Total 92 Flight Crew Type 80
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Landing Without Clearance

Narrative:

We were flying at 2500 ft. I started losing electrical power. At that point I was unable to light up the runway without a radio; and could not identify it to land safely in the dark. I decided to fly to a towered airport. I had no way to communicate with the tower other than a hand held light from the cockpit. I saw traffic was clear; and came in for a landing. Once on the ground I was able to contact the tower with a cell phone. We were directed to a secure parking area where we were greeted and shown to the FBO. No paperwork was requested to be filed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Pilot reported a loss of electrical power at night and diverting to a towered airport.

Narrative: We were flying at 2500 ft. I started losing electrical power. At that point I was unable to light up the runway without a radio; and could not identify it to land safely in the dark. I decided to fly to a towered airport. I had no way to communicate with the tower other than a hand held light from the cockpit. I saw traffic was clear; and came in for a landing. Once on the ground I was able to contact the tower with a cell phone. We were directed to a secure parking area where we were greeted and shown to the FBO. No paperwork was requested to be filed.

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.