Narrative:

At 4;000 and 200 kis we encountered a lightning strike in IMC. We had just flown through some heavy precipitation that seemed like rain with no accumulation. That lasted for approx 20 seconds. After exiting in IMC; smooth conditions; the strike occurred. The strike; because of entering the nose gear door; caused the amber door nose gear light to illuminate with audio cues to confirm it being open. It also knocked both dc gens offline. There was a slight electrical smell with no signs of smoke. We declared an emergency; the decision to divert was made and the emergency checklist was complied with. Approx 8 min later we landed with no further incident. There was no indication of convective activity in the area. To encounter a lighting strike was very unexpected. On the landing phase we decided to extend the landing gear about 3 miles further out encase we encountered any problems with the nose gear. Upon extension no problems arose and the nose gear door retracted normally; extinguishing the amber light.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain reported a lightning strike that resulted in loss of some electrical capability; so they declared an emergency and diverted to the nearest suitable airport.

Narrative: At 4;000 and 200 KIS we encountered a lightning strike in IMC. We had just flown through some heavy precipitation that seemed like rain with no accumulation. That lasted for approx 20 seconds. After exiting in IMC; smooth conditions; the strike occurred. The strike; because of entering the nose gear door; caused the amber door nose gear light to illuminate with audio cues to confirm it being open. It also knocked both DC gens offline. There was a slight electrical smell with no signs of smoke. We declared an emergency; the decision to divert was made and the emergency checklist was complied with. Approx 8 min later we landed with no further incident. There was no indication of convective activity in the area. To encounter a lighting strike was very unexpected. On the landing phase we decided to extend the landing gear about 3 miles further out encase we encountered any problems with the nose gear. Upon extension no problems arose and the nose gear door retracted normally; extinguishing the amber light.

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.