Cessna pilot reported smoke and sparks coming from the landing light switch.

Attributes
ACN	1533209
Time
Date	201804
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
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	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Switch
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 810 Flight Crew Type 500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

During cruise flight I encountered a short electrical fire that lasted approximately a minute. I noticed smoke coming from the landing light switch; then seconds later noticed sparks. I had a passenger turn off the switch while I was flying the plane. Turning the switch off solved the problem and extinguished the fire. No emergency was declared at the time. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed at the planned airport.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cessna Pilot reported smoke and sparks coming from the landing light switch.

Narrative: During cruise flight I encountered a short electrical fire that lasted approximately a minute. I noticed smoke coming from the landing light switch; then seconds later noticed sparks. I had a passenger turn off the switch while I was flying the plane. Turning the switch off solved the problem and extinguished the fire. No emergency was declared at the time. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed at the planned airport.

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.