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PA31 pilot detected smoke in the cockpit and lands without clearance after attempts to contact ATC go without response; he elected to turn off all electronics except the transponder.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 825569 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200902 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.VOR |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-31 Navajo/Chieftan/Mojave/T1040 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Electrical Power |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 3500 Flight Crew Type 60 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Landing Without Clearance Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
While cruising at 10;000 ft; smoke started coming out of the control panel. It was clearly electrical smoke. Tried to contact center to advise that I needed to descend as soon as possible; but they could not hear me over the radio. At that point; I realized that my radio was not able to transmit and decided to leave my assigned altitude. I proceeded to switch all electronics off and left my transponder on. I squawked 7700 and left my assigned altitude. I started a fast descent into ZZZ. When I got there; I tried to look for light signals from the tower; but was not able to see any (probably because it was daylight). I looked at the approach end of the runway to see if it was clear and there was a 757 on final. I waited until he landed and cleared the runway and made my landing. At that point I had still not seen any light signals from the tower.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: PA31 pilot detected smoke in the cockpit and lands without clearance after attempts to contact ATC go without response; he elected to turn off all electronics except the transponder.
Narrative: While cruising at 10;000 FT; smoke started coming out of the control panel. It was clearly electrical smoke. Tried to contact Center to advise that I needed to descend as soon as possible; but they could not hear me over the radio. At that point; I realized that my radio was not able to transmit and decided to leave my assigned altitude. I proceeded to switch all electronics off and left my transponder on. I squawked 7700 and left my assigned altitude. I started a fast descent into ZZZ. When I got there; I tried to look for light signals from the Tower; but was not able to see any (probably because it was daylight). I looked at the approach end of the runway to see if it was clear and there was a 757 on final. I waited until he landed and cleared the runway and made my landing. At that point I had still not seen any light signals from the Tower.
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.