Narrative:

IMC and strong headwinds all route until arriving in houston area where visibility increased and ceilings improved. Was handed over from center to approach and was on vectors for efd 35L. At about 16 miles out and 3;000 ft my headsets became very noisy and cockpit lights dimmed rapidly. Checked voltage meter and was down to 8V and ammeter was flat. [I] surmised loss of alternator. Clicked to transmit on number one radio and radio failed and went black. Tuned number two to frequency but was unreadable. Set 7600 on transponder and started shutting off all electrical equipment except transponder and navigation lights. Now less than 6V showing; transponder return light showed still responding. No radios or navigation information available from that point on. Had not yet intercepted glide slope at loss so turned northerly to try to pick up field beacon. Once beacon was picked up; dropped landing gear using emergency procedure however got only two dim green lights indicating nose gear was not down. Commenced parabola maneuvers to attempt to swing the nose gear to locked position. [I] was successful on third attempt. Was now less than two miles from runway and could see emergency response equipment at end of runway and further back up the ramp all with flashing lights. Presumed ATC had cleared area for our landing and continued approach. Due to maneuvers; was on a very low approach and had no flaps. Landing was uneventful and I exited the runway at first available taxiway. After clearing runway; I stopped movement of the plane and waited for one of fire trucks to approach with instruction or direction. No movement observed. I did not want to shut down the engine at this point as I had no way to restart. I looked over to the FBO and the 'follow me truck' was over there with lights flashing and a couple of linemen were there with their light sticks. No other aircraft were observed moving on the ramp. I commenced a slow taxi to the ramp since I had no taxi lights. The fire trucks fell in behind and followed. I was marshaled to a parking space and shut down the engine. As I opened the door I was approached by a fireman/responder and asked if we were all ok and we told them yes. He was satisfied and they stood down. I was then approached by a gentleman who got out of a pick up truck with yellow flashing lights. He did not identify himself. He asked me why I did not obey the tower light gun after I exited the runway. He told me they had flashed the red gun to me to indicate not to move and the controller was very upset. I informed him that I did not see the red gun at any time and that there were a lot of red flashing lights between me and the tower that probably had masked the gun. He told me 'next time to obey the light gun' and left. I am hoping that there will not be a next time. The following day the electrical system was checked out and a voltage regulator replaced. The plane was returned to service and the return trip was uneventful. My observation next day during daylight hours was that the efd tower is not very high and is in an area with many other buildings with large floodlights and would not be easily picked out at night. Further; as I suspected; the multiple emergency response vehicles had stood between my exit from the runway and the tower. The light pollution from sodium ramp lights and flashing lights of the vehicles had obscured the tower light gun. I would recommend that when dealing with emergencies where there is a possibility of requiring a pilot to see a light gun that the response vehicles be instructed not to park in the area that is a direct line between the aircraft and the tower.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: General aviation pilot on IFR flight plan at night experiences alternator failure approaching EFD in VMC. After using manual gear extension methods a no flap landing ensues with many emergency vehicles standing by. No light gun signals are observed from the Tower before or after landing but the reporter is admonished by an airport official for not holding position after landing as indicated by a red light.

Narrative: IMC and strong headwinds all route until arriving in Houston area where visibility increased and ceilings improved. Was handed over from Center to Approach and was on vectors for EFD 35L. At about 16 miles out and 3;000 FT my headsets became very noisy and cockpit lights dimmed rapidly. Checked voltage meter and was down to 8V and ammeter was flat. [I] surmised loss of alternator. Clicked to transmit on Number One Radio and radio failed and went black. Tuned number two to frequency but was unreadable. Set 7600 on transponder and started shutting off all electrical equipment except transponder and navigation lights. Now less than 6V showing; transponder return light showed still responding. No radios or navigation information available from that point on. Had not yet intercepted glide slope at loss so turned northerly to try to pick up field beacon. Once beacon was picked up; dropped landing gear using emergency procedure however got only two dim green lights indicating nose gear was not down. Commenced parabola maneuvers to attempt to swing the nose gear to locked position. [I] was successful on third attempt. Was now less than two miles from runway and could see emergency response equipment at end of runway and further back up the ramp all with flashing lights. Presumed ATC had cleared area for our landing and continued approach. Due to maneuvers; was on a very low approach and had no flaps. Landing was uneventful and I exited the runway at first available taxiway. After clearing runway; I stopped movement of the plane and waited for one of fire trucks to approach with instruction or direction. No movement observed. I did not want to shut down the engine at this point as I had no way to restart. I looked over to the FBO and the 'follow me truck' was over there with lights flashing and a couple of linemen were there with their light sticks. No other aircraft were observed moving on the ramp. I commenced a slow taxi to the ramp since I had no taxi lights. The fire trucks fell in behind and followed. I was marshaled to a parking space and shut down the engine. As I opened the door I was approached by a fireman/responder and asked if we were all OK and we told them yes. He was satisfied and they stood down. I was then approached by a gentleman who got out of a pick up truck with yellow flashing lights. He did not identify himself. He asked me why I did not obey the Tower light gun after I exited the runway. He told me they had flashed the red gun to me to indicate not to move and the Controller was very upset. I informed him that I did not see the red gun at any time and that there were a lot of red flashing lights between me and the Tower that probably had masked the gun. He told me 'next time to obey the light gun' and left. I am hoping that there will not be a next time. The following day the electrical system was checked out and a voltage regulator replaced. The plane was returned to service and the return trip was uneventful. My observation next day during daylight hours was that the EFD Tower is not very high and is in an area with many other buildings with large floodlights and would not be easily picked out at night. Further; as I suspected; the multiple emergency response vehicles had stood between my exit from the runway and the Tower. The light pollution from sodium ramp lights and flashing lights of the vehicles had obscured the Tower light gun. I would recommend that when dealing with emergencies where there is a possibility of requiring a pilot to see a light gun that the response vehicles be instructed not to park in the area that is a direct line between the aircraft and 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.