The pilot of a C-210 suffered total electrical failure while on an IFR flight plan in VMC. Efforts t...

Narrative:

I was on an IFR flight plan in level cruise flight at 7;000 squawking altitude when center asked me to confirm my altitude which they said was reporting 11;900 ft. I checked both altimeters which indicated 7;000 and 7;040. I recycled my transponder. Center handed me off to approach control and said they would advise my altitude reporting was inaccurate.I could not raise TRACON. At that time my HSI failed with heading/navigation warnings. The number 1 altimeter (electric) also failed. I checked my alternator ammeter output which was pulsing -1 to -2. I turned off the beacon and the pulsing stopped but the ammeter still showed a steady -1. I realized I was operating on battery power and was anxious to notify TRACON. I entered 7700 in the transponder and then switched to 7600 after a couple of minutes. I did not want to alter my course non-comm toward the closest airport due to extensive parachute operations.I turned off as much of my electrically powered equipment as possible to conserve battery power. I was able to navigate with an ipad charts program with a battery powered GPS receiver. I maintained 7;000 ft. About 10 minutes later I was able to establish radio contact with the tower at my destination. I advised them I was IFR and had an emergency due to electrical failure. They cleared me to enter a right base for runway 27. At that point everything went totally dark. I used the emergency checklist and tried to reset the alternator and then I hand pumped the gear down. I turned the batt switch off. One minute prior to landing; I turned the batt/altitude switch back on and observed a faint gear down (green light) indication. I observed the tower's green light and landed on runway 27. I taxied clear and observed the tower flashing green light and taxied to the FBO. Next time I will carry a hand held radio.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The pilot of a C-210 suffered total electrical failure while on an IFR flight plan in VMC. Efforts to minimize the use of electronic equipment preserved sufficient battery power to inform the Tower of the aircraft's arrival and light signals from the Tower were utilized for landing and taxi.

Narrative: I was on an IFR flight plan in level cruise flight at 7;000 squawking altitude when center asked me to confirm my altitude which they said was reporting 11;900 FT. I checked both altimeters which indicated 7;000 and 7;040. I recycled my transponder. Center handed me off to Approach Control and said they would advise my altitude reporting was inaccurate.I could not raise TRACON. At that time my HSI failed with HDG/NAV warnings. The Number 1 Altimeter (electric) also failed. I checked my ALTERNATOR ammeter output which was pulsing -1 to -2. I turned off the beacon and the pulsing stopped but the ammeter still showed a steady -1. I realized I was operating on battery power and was anxious to notify TRACON. I entered 7700 in the transponder and then switched to 7600 after a couple of minutes. I did not want to alter my course non-comm toward the closest airport due to extensive parachute operations.I turned off as much of my electrically powered equipment as possible to conserve battery power. I was able to navigate with an iPad charts program with a battery powered GPS receiver. I maintained 7;000 FT. About 10 minutes later I was able to establish radio contact with the Tower at my destination. I advised them I was IFR and had an EMERGENCY due to electrical failure. They cleared me to enter a right base for Runway 27. At that point everything went totally dark. I used the EMERGENCY checklist and tried to reset the ALTERNATOR and then I hand pumped the gear down. I turned the BATT switch off. One minute prior to landing; I turned the BATT/ALT switch back on and observed a faint GEAR DOWN (Green light) indication. I observed the Tower's GREEN LIGHT and landed on Runway 27. I taxied clear and observed the tower FLASHING GREEN light and taxied to the FBO. Next time I will carry a hand held radio.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1070907
Time
Date	201303
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C 210D
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Electrical Power
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 74 Flight Crew Total 16788 Flight Crew Type 300
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

The pilot of a C-210 suffered total electrical failure while on an IFR flight plan in VMC. Efforts to minimize the use of electronic equipment preserved sufficient battery power to inform the tower of the aircraft's arrival and light signals from the tower were utilized for landing and taxi.