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Two pilots experienced smoke in the cockpit and a successful landing after receiving light gun signals.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1296402 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201509 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-23-250 Aztec |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Electrical Power |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 133 Flight Crew Total 900 Flight Crew Type 45 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 1000 Flight Crew Type 50 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
Flying at a cruise altitude of 6;500 feet 5 miles east of [destination] airport in VFR conditions; began to smell a burning/smokey scent in the cockpit; looked around the cockpit in search of a source and found smoke coming from the instrument panel where the aileron trim gauge is located after turning the master switch off. While the master was off we searched for a circuit breaker (circuit breaker) for the electrical aileron trim and did not find an associated circuit breaker for the aileron trim which is why we left the master off and why we did not attempt to turn the master back on to use the radios. The needle inside the gauge was melted; landed without radio communications at the [destination] airport after entering the pattern at 2;500 AGL; making multiple high passes observing the pattern followed by light gun signals from the tower controller in which we made a successful landing with no injuries.mechanic looked at our aircraft briefly; saying that he believes this was due to a short in the electrical system with the electric aileron trim. Aircraft is currently with maintenance.suggest checking more often or replacing old age instruments more often to prevent situations like this. Specific circuit breaker for this instrument should be added to prevent loss of radio communications be it VFR or IFR where the following could create a greater safety risk.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Two pilots experienced smoke in the cockpit and a successful landing after receiving light gun signals.
Narrative: Flying at a cruise altitude of 6;500 feet 5 miles east of [destination] airport in VFR conditions; began to smell a burning/smokey scent in the cockpit; looked around the cockpit in search of a source and found smoke coming from the instrument panel where the aileron trim gauge is located after turning the master switch off. While the master was off we searched for a Circuit Breaker (CB) for the electrical aileron trim and did not find an associated CB for the aileron trim which is why we left the master off and why we did not attempt to turn the master back on to use the radios. The needle inside the gauge was melted; landed without radio communications at the [destination] airport after entering the pattern at 2;500 AGL; making multiple high passes observing the pattern followed by light gun signals from the tower controller in which we made a successful landing with no injuries.Mechanic looked at our aircraft briefly; saying that he believes this was due to a short in the electrical system with the electric aileron trim. Aircraft is currently with maintenance.Suggest checking more often or replacing old age instruments more often to prevent situations like this. Specific circuit breaker for this instrument should be added to prevent loss of radio communications be it VFR or IFR where the following could create a greater safety risk.
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.