Small aircraft has smoke in cockpit. Makes emergency landing.

Attributes
ACN	257830
Time
Date	199311
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : esn
State Reference	MD
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 1000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : den
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, Low Wing, 1 Eng, Fixed Gear
Flight Phase	cruise other
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : private
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 12 flight time total : 525 flight time type : 30
ASRS Report	257830
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : declared emergency other
Consequence	Other Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

Departed easton, md, airport on runway 4, turned west and leveled off at 1000 ft MSL. After leveling off, thick black smoke started coming out from under the panel. Cabin filled up with smoke. Opened small side window and started immediate descent to an open field. Landed without further incident. Once on the ground, the smoke stopped. Cause of smoke/fire was determined to be a faulty wiring of the avionics master switch.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA HAS SMOKE IN COCKPIT. MAKES EMER LNDG.

Narrative: DEPARTED EASTON, MD, ARPT ON RWY 4, TURNED W AND LEVELED OFF AT 1000 FT MSL. AFTER LEVELING OFF, THICK BLACK SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT FROM UNDER THE PANEL. CABIN FILLED UP WITH SMOKE. OPENED SMALL SIDE WINDOW AND STARTED IMMEDIATE DSCNT TO AN OPEN FIELD. LANDED WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. ONCE ON THE GND, THE SMOKE STOPPED. CAUSE OF SMOKE/FIRE WAS DETERMINED TO BE A FAULTY WIRING OF THE AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.