Narrative:

It was IMC as I departed and climbed through the stratus layer. I was in constant communication with tower and reported the altitude I was flying through. I was eventually handed off to socal approach. I was given multiple assignments for heading; altitude and airspeed. For example; 'climb to 5;300 ft (I was at 5;000 ft); on 090 degree heading and slow to 100 KTS for spacing.' this happened several times with approach prior to my arrival at ZZZ VOR. No one stated I was not transmitting my altitude on my transponder. As I neared ZZZ VOR; the radio began to crackle with heavy static; a high pitched squeal was emitted and I lost all communication. I checked my radio by switching back and forth from communication #1 to communication #2 and I inspected my headsets. Unable to determine the cause of communication failure; I squawked 7600 at or near the ZZZ VOR. As I squawked 7600; I saw the ammeter was only registering '01.' I turned off all my lights (landing light; navigation lights and strobes) to conserve electrical power. I cycled my alternator switch; master and battery switches to no avail. The alternator appeared to be completely dead. As I passed over the ZZZ VOR; I lost all navigation equipment. My vors went dead and my avionics panel which was flashing intermittently also went completely dead. I turned to heading 095 degrees and stayed at 5;000 ft as assigned in my flight plan. As pilot in command; I made the decision to fly the filed flight plan as best I could using lost communication procedures. The visibility was poor and I determined I was not in VMC. For example; at 5;000 ft the visibility was too poor to make out objects on the ground although the flight path in that stretch did not have cloud cover directly below me. Without the ability to see the ground clearly; I determined that attempting to land at ZZZ1 was not a safe option. In addition; that was a deviation from my filed flight plan and ATC would not expect me to do that. I was able to see a few mountain tops to the north of ZZZ1 and I was able to see part of the town though much of it was in cloud cover. As I approached the hills to the east of the ZZZ1 area; I was able to turn east-southeast and head toward my destination. As I approached the airport (it was still not in sight); a commercial jet parallel to me on the ILS approach for runway xxr was diverted and he climbed out. Looking back and to my left; I did not see any other planes coming in for landing on runway xxr. At that time; I decided I could safely land on runway xxr. I dropped in and landed. I exited the first taxiway possible to the left; looked for planes on runway xxl; did not see any; crossed over runway xxl and taxied to parking. I tied down the airplane and went into the FBO where I reported what happened to the FBO owner. I gave him a brief account of what happened and he stated that it sounded like I did what I should have done. I received a call from TRACON on my cell phone saying I needed to call the operations manager about a 'possible deviation of flight.' I returned the call and spoke with a man who questioned me harshly about the incident and was not satisfied with my responses and actions. He implied that he was forwarding paperwork to have my pilot's license revoked. I was asked 'why didn't I divert to ZZZ1 or an uncontrolled airport.' I stated that the visibility was so poor that I did not believe I could find ZZZ1 or other suitable airport without navigational equipment. I also stated I was very concerned that deviating from my filed flight plan was not what ATC would be expecting. In addition; ZZZ1 was not expecting me to go there and I would be flying in virtually blind to do an emergency landing in their airport. I did not deem that to be a safe option for their control tower and other aircraft in their airspace. I stayed with my lost communications procedure and flew the filed flight plan as best I could without vors and believe that I was very close to that route throug

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA28 pilot experiences total electrical failure during IFR flight in IMC. Reporter makes best attempt at remaining on flight plan and lands at destination airport. Post flight reveals alternator drive belt had failed.

Narrative: It was IMC as I departed and climbed through the stratus layer. I was in constant communication with Tower and reported the altitude I was flying through. I was eventually handed off to SOCAL Approach. I was given multiple assignments for heading; altitude and airspeed. For example; 'Climb to 5;300 FT (I was at 5;000 FT); on 090 degree heading and slow to 100 KTS for spacing.' This happened several times with Approach prior to my arrival at ZZZ VOR. No one stated I was not transmitting my altitude on my transponder. As I neared ZZZ VOR; the radio began to crackle with heavy static; a high pitched squeal was emitted and I lost all communication. I checked my radio by switching back and forth from Communication #1 to Communication #2 and I inspected my headsets. Unable to determine the cause of communication failure; I squawked 7600 at or near the ZZZ VOR. As I squawked 7600; I saw the ammeter was only registering '01.' I turned off all my lights (landing light; navigation lights and strobes) to conserve electrical power. I cycled my alternator switch; master and battery switches to no avail. The alternator appeared to be completely dead. As I passed over the ZZZ VOR; I lost all navigation equipment. My VORs went dead and my avionics panel which was flashing intermittently also went completely dead. I turned to heading 095 degrees and stayed at 5;000 FT as assigned in my flight plan. As Pilot in Command; I made the decision to fly the filed flight plan as best I could using lost communication procedures. The visibility was poor and I determined I was not in VMC. For example; at 5;000 FT the visibility was too poor to make out objects on the ground although the flight path in that stretch did not have cloud cover directly below me. Without the ability to see the ground clearly; I determined that attempting to land at ZZZ1 was not a safe option. In addition; that was a deviation from my filed flight plan and ATC would not expect me to do that. I was able to see a few mountain tops to the north of ZZZ1 and I was able to see part of the town though much of it was in cloud cover. As I approached the hills to the east of the ZZZ1 area; I was able to turn east-southeast and head toward my destination. As I approached the airport (it was still not in sight); a commercial jet parallel to me on the ILS approach for Runway XXR was diverted and he climbed out. Looking back and to my left; I did not see any other planes coming in for landing on Runway XXR. At that time; I decided I could safely land on Runway XXR. I dropped in and landed. I exited the first taxiway possible to the left; looked for planes on Runway XXL; did not see any; crossed over Runway XXL and taxied to parking. I tied down the airplane and went into the FBO where I reported what happened to the FBO owner. I gave him a brief account of what happened and he stated that it sounded like I did what I should have done. I received a call from TRACON on my cell phone saying I needed to call the Operations Manager about a 'Possible deviation of flight.' I returned the call and spoke with a man who questioned me harshly about the incident and was not satisfied with my responses and actions. He implied that he was forwarding paperwork to have my pilot's license revoked. I was asked 'Why didn't I divert to ZZZ1 or an uncontrolled airport.' I stated that the visibility was so poor that I did not believe I could find ZZZ1 or other suitable airport without navigational equipment. I also stated I was very concerned that deviating from my filed flight plan was not what ATC would be expecting. In addition; ZZZ1 was not expecting me to go there and I would be flying in virtually blind to do an emergency landing in their airport. I did not deem that to be a safe option for their Control Tower and other aircraft in their airspace. I stayed with my lost communications procedure and flew the filed flight plan as best I could without VORs and believe that I was very close to that route throug

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.