Electrical Failure in Delta Airspace

[azpilot]

Hello everyone!

I am new here. I just completed by private checkride back on 7/6/2015. Right after that, I took the wife and kids on a much needed family vacation for a week and a half. It was killing me that I had just earned my pilot certificate and could not go fly!

The appointed day finally arrived. A little more than two weeks after I passed the checkride on a beautiful Summer Arizona morning I headed over to the FBO and hopped in the same plane I had flown on my checkride to take my first flight as a private pilot (C172). After flying to a neighborning airport and executing a couple of touch and goes (that were pretty darn good mind you) I headed back to my home airport which resides in class Delta airspace. I dialed up the ATIS and called the tower to let them know I was coming in for a few more Touch and Goes. Tower gave me a midfield entry for a right downwind on runway 4R. Tower then advised me they were a little busy, but that they would do there best to work me in.

I flew the prescribed course. Before entering downwind I saw another airplane flying downwind as well. I maintained proper and safe separation and entered downwind behind him. I watched the other airplane turn base, then final, then pass me going the other way. It was quite odd that I hadn't heard any traffic on the radio since the tower called me back. As the other airplane and I crossed paths I started to reduce power in preparation to turn base. It was at that point that I noticed the radio's were flashing off and on, the transponder was dead, and the GPS was flashing wildly. I continued flying the airplane as all of this was happening. I tried calling the tower for a radio check. They didn't hear me, and oddly enough I couldn't hearmyself in the headset.

By the time a few seconds had passed as I was mentally trying to process what to do, I had turned base. The airplane in front of me had landed and was taking off after completing a touch and go.

At this point, I was high in the pattern as the 172 flaps are electric and wouldn't go down. I was on the base leg and had just a few seconds to make a decision on what to do next. I was at a towered field in class Delta Airspace. I had no way of knowing if they had cleared me to land or not. I also knew there was pretty heavy traffic in the area from what the controller had already told me. Also, as there is no electrical power at all the transponder is dead, so there is no way to squawk 7600. Even if I had a handheld radio, there wasn't much time to get one out (by the way, I orderd my handheld radio from Sporty's first thing when I got to work that morning).

So, what do you do? I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts before I spoil you with the ending. I'll check back in after a few people have responded and let you know how it turned out. The good news is that I am here a few days later writing about it, so I can't be all that bad!

 

[MAKG1]

Look at the tower for light signals. When you don't answer their clearance, you should see it. If you don't see a green light, go around.

To deal with the height, pull power to idle, slow to 60 (C172), and if that isn't enough, slip.

You can try to broadcast in the blind, but I don't recommend that if the electrical system is failing, as it draws a lot of current. And it's not likely to work if the radios are flashing.

Turn the master off, as it isn't doing you any good and that can reduce risk of electrical fire. If you smell smoke, land with or without a clearance. On a taxiway or in the grass if you have to (though it sounds like the runway was clear).

 

[Zeldman]

As MAKG1 stated above, or leave the traffic pattern and airspace and land at a non towered airport. Be nice and call the tower to let them know what happened.

 

[Matthew]

You weren't cleared to land, so you can't. Tower would have cleared you, you wouldn't have responded, tower would have cleared you again, you wouldn't have responded, tower then might have said something like "Wag your wings if you can receive". Once tower figures out you can't hear, he'll dust off the light gun and hope he remembers how it works. As far as a no flap landing, once you realize they don't work you should be able to anticipate on the next time around.

 

[MAKG1]

As MAKG1 stated above, or leave the traffic pattern and airspace and land at a non towered airport. Be nice and call the tower to let them know what happened.

It's an option, but it's better to do what the last instruction was -- make right traffic -- unless there is some reason why it's unsafe such as a lot of converging traffic. This is what Tower will expect you to do. And if they want something different, they will discover the comms loss that much faster.

Such rules are much more explicit in the IFR world, where loss of communication means you can't help ATC separate you from invisible traffic in the clouds.

See 14 CFR 91.129(d)(2) for VFR, and 14 CFR 91.185 (all of it) for IFR.

 

[SkyDog58]

Did you try killing all avionics except for the radio you were talking to tower on and also kill all your lights to reduce the draw on the electrical system? Since some things were flashing, you had some power left and it could have been just enough to get in a clearance to land. Also as you had just reduced power, did you consider increasing it a bit to see if that helped with the alternator output?

 

[Matthew]

Is this a trick question?

 

[docmirror]

Look for light signal. If no light signal: Climb out on runway heading, then execute a standard(right) traffic departure from the ATA. Land at the nearest suitable non-towered and call the FBO you rent from. Then call the Tower at the class D and inform them of your electrical emergency. Use the word emergency.

If green light signal, land and taxi clear of the runway. Keep looking for light signals.
If red light signal, follow first para.

My bet is you landed and taxied off the runway. Nothing bad happened, and they were fine with what you did.

 

[MAKG1]

Did you try killing all avionics except for the radio you were talking to tower on and also kill all your lights to reduce the draw on the electrical system? Since some things were flashing, you had some power left and it could have been just enough to get in a clearance to land. Also as you had just reduced power, did you consider increasing it a bit to see if that helped with the alternator output?

Once at or below TPA and descending, there is no time for troubleshooting. The MOST you can do is turn the master off, and even that may be more than you have time for.

Aviate, navigate, communicate, in that order. Below TPA, your priority is to keep your airplane away from obstructions, ground and other aircraft.

It's an exercise you should try, with an instructor or safety pilot (as it's distracting). Just go through the electrical fire emergency checklist -- including digging it out -- from 1000 AGL and see how far you get. Please do it in a low traffic environment as you will be heads down quite a lot.

 

[SkyDog58]

Once at or below TPA and descending, there is no time for troubleshooting. The MOST you can do is turn the master off, and even that may be more than you have time for.

Aviate, navigate, communicate, in that order. Below TPA, your priority is to keep your airplane away from obstructions, ground and other aircraft.

It's an exercise you should try, with an instructor or safety pilot (as it's distracting). Just go through the electrical fire emergency checklist -- including digging it out -- from 1000 AGL and see how far you get. Please do it in a low traffic environment as you will be heads down quite a lot.

I guess that depends on the capabilities of the individual and what actions one takes upon initial realization that there is a problem. OP turned base after realizing he had an issue. I would have extended my downwind long enough to quickly turn some switches off in an attempt to load shed to see if that helped. It would not take long and would not require burying one's head in the cockpit. And it most certainly not require digging out a checklist especially the electrical fire one as the OP made no mention of fire, just loss of electrical. Quite different.

 

[azpilot]

I've enjoyed reading these quick responses! Thanks everyone for chiming in!

I think if the examiner had asked me what to do during my oral exam, I likely would have said what several of you here have said, which is Go-around, fly the right traffic, and look for light gun signals. I will tell you, there is something about being right in the middle of the situation that makes things a little bit different. Maybe this is my lack of experience talking, but that is certainly how I felt.

As soon as I noticed the radio problem I was continually looking for light gun signals. They never came. I quickly ran through my immediate options. As I saw it, they were Land or go around. I didn't feel like I had time to do any troubleshooting given my position in the pattern. I could literally hear my instructor telling me "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate". In hindsite now I very much appreciate how much of a pain in the butt he was at times. I remember distinctly reminding myself that the airplane doesn't need the electrical system to fly and that the fan in front was stilling pulling the plane along.

In the seconds I had to think about it, I decided to land. The previous traffic had already cleared the runway. This is the far runway and is primarily used for touch and goes and arrivals. It is very seldome used for departures. In my mind it seemed that going around would cause more problems as it would put me in a position in which I had poor visibility and would not be able to communicate with anyone. The runway was 5000' x 75' of empty tarmac that I could see very well.

Being high wasn't too hard to deal with, I just slipped it down and touched down a bit long on the runway. I exited at the first available taxiway and sat there looking for light gun signals. After about 10 seconds, I remembered I had the tower phone number in my cell phone. I pulled it out, called the tower and informed them who I was, which taxiway I was on and that I had a radio failure. The controller gave me taxi instructions, helped me across 4L and over to the ramp. Right at the end before I hung up she told me "good job".

I went back and reviewed the liveatc.net archive of the tower frequency. After giving me the pattern entry instructions, the tower asked me to 'ident' a short time later. After that there were two more "radio check" calls. Based on that and the surprised sound on the other end of the phone when the person in the tower picked up the phone I am pretty sure they had no idea where I was, and that they didn't even know I landed. That made me even more glad I made the decision to land when I did.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, the NASA report is in the mail.

 

[azpilot]

I guess that depends on the capabilities of the individual and what actions one takes upon initial realization that there is a problem. OP turned base after realizing he had an issue. I would have extended my downwind long enough to quickly turn some switches off in an attempt to load shed to see if that helped. It would not take long and would not require burying one's head in the cockpit. And it most certainly not require digging out a checklist especially the electrical fire one as the OP made no mention of fire, just loss of electrical. Quite different.

Regarding capabilities, when I completed my checkride I had 61.7 total hours and 13.1 hours as PIC. This was my first flight since the checkride. I am up to 62.8 / 14.2 now!

 

[Matthew]

Based on that and the surprised sound on the other end of the phone when the person in the tower picked up the phone I am pretty sure they had no idea where I was, and that they didn't even know I landed.

Maybe they were confused about where you were because they didn't expect you to land?

--

I do remember my first radio comm "failure". It was during a solo training flight returning to my class D airport. I was outside D, but not getting a response from tower. I tried a few times, but didn't hear anything back. I took a deep breath, said to myself "Self, lets just circle here outside D for a while and figure this out." That's when I did a face-palm when I realized in the rough air that I had bumped the volume control all the way down. I turned it up and tower was still trying to reach me.

Lesson learned - sometimes, when something like that happens, it's best to "don't just do something, stand there" and go around and take the time to figure out a plan.

 

[MAKG1]

I guess that depends on the capabilities of the individual and what actions one takes upon initial realization that there is a problem. OP turned base after realizing he had an issue. I would have extended my downwind long enough to quickly turn some switches off in an attempt to load shed to see if that helped. It would not take long and would not require burying one's head in the cockpit. And it most certainly not require digging out a checklist especially the electrical fire one as the OP made no mention of fire, just loss of electrical. Quite different.

No, it doesn't.

TRY it.

You are dramatically overestimating your speed and concentration. With other traffic in the area, you will cause a huge CF.

If you want to troubleshoot, leave the pattern, and climb to a safe altitude. Messing with this stuff while circling around downwind to base is just about the worst choice you could make.

Honestly, loss of comms in VFR is not an emergency unless it's accompanied by an electrical fire. Just do what the regs say to expect.

The LAST thing you want to do is surprise someone when you can't communicate, and restoring communications over aviating is a poor prioritization.

 

[docmirror]

I win.

 

[RotorDude]

I have never had to rely on light gun signals, but have heard they are notoriously unreliable, esp. in daylight.
So in the OP's case, being below TPA on base or final, I would have looked for the green light, and unless I saw a red (flashing or otherwise), I'd double/triple/quadruple check the runway (and any intersecting ones), land and get off the runway ASAP. Then deal with any consequences.
If I saw a red light, or any conflicting traffic, I'd go around.

 

[docmirror]

If you want to troubleshoot, leave the pattern, and climb to a safe altitude. Messing with this stuff while circling around downwind to base is just about the worst choice you could make.

Honestly, loss of comms in VFR is not an emergency unless it's accompanied by an electrical fire. Just do what the regs say to expect.

Agreed, if you need to mess with stuff in the air, go somewhere else.

This was not loss of comm, this was complete electrical failure with one of the flight controls inop. No fire - turn off the master and go somewhere else. But the OP got away with it.

 

[SkyDog58]

No, it doesn't.

TRY it.

You are dramatically overestimating your speed and concentration. With other traffic in the area, you will cause a huge CF.

If you want to troubleshoot, leave the pattern, and climb to a safe altitude. Messing with this stuff while circling around downwind to base is just about the worst choice you could make.

Honestly, loss of comms in VFR is not an emergency unless it's accompanied by an electrical fire. Just do what the regs say to expect.

The LAST thing you want to do is surprise someone when you can't communicate, and restoring communications over aviating is a poor prioritization.

Again, we are not talking about an exhaustive troubleshooting process. We are talking about a real quick and simple load shed technique when faced with diminishing electrical power. And remember that in the pattern, you have already slowed up so you do have a little time to sort things out before being carried too far away on downwind. It is no more difficult a task than is responding to an engine quitting in the pattern. Check the tanks, make sure you didn't turn it off when switching to fullest tank or that you did not pull the mixture rather than carb heat. These are quick action items that any pilot should be able to perform. In my opinion that is part of aviating. It seems like you believe differently and that is fine. You are free to fly the way you want to.

If my quick attempts did not work then I could have easily departed the pattern on the downwind which I would still be on and proceeded to look for light signals or go to an uncontrolled field. I might have even tried calling the tower on my cell once clear of their airspace before heading off to the other airport.

What I would not do is what the OP did and that is land without clearance. If he had been told earlier that he was #2 behind the other traffic and was cleared to land, that would have been ok. But what if there was someone on a straight in or on a base from the other direction and the OP had missed the call from ATC to extend his downwind? These are things that have happened to me (not the missed call but being asked to extend due to other traffic coming from the other direction). Remember that the tower had said that they were busy and that the OP mentioned he saw the one traffic in front of him even though he made no mention that it had been called out to him by tower. Was there other traffic for the same runway? We do not know and apparently neither did the OP.

I am glad it did work out for him and am very pleased that the tower seemed to be understanding. I also applaud him for filing the NASA.

 

[SkyDog58]

I have never had to rely on light gun signals, but have heard they are notoriously unreliable, esp. in daylight.
So in the OP's case, being below TPA on base or final, I would have looked for the green light, and unless I saw a red (flashing or otherwise), I'd double/triple/quadruple check the runway (and any intersecting ones), land and get off the runway ASAP. Then deal with any consequences.
If I saw a red light, or any conflicting traffic, I'd go around.

Would you be there without being cleared to land?

 

[MAKG1]

Sometimes you have to do things that you were trained were illegal, but really are the most prudent thing under the circumstances.

Example: I had an alternator grenade at engine start, and drain the (weak) battery during a long taxi; it gave up the ghost in the run-up area, and I lost transmission. This was at a towered airport, and it lost me the ability to get a taxi clearance. In the run-up area, Ground has no clue that you can't contact them; most people sit there for a bit with no communications. So, I taxied -- without a clearance -- out of the movement area to the nearest parking (not very far at all), shut down and tied down, and then called the tower to tell them what happened.

I honestly didn't know what I should have done, so I asked in just those words. The answer was that I did the best thing under the circumstances.

 

[MAKG1]

Would you be there without being cleared to land?

Yes.

It happens ALL the time at busy towered airports.

 

[MAKG1]

Again, we are not talking about an exhaustive troubleshooting process. We are talking about a real quick and simple load shed technique when faced with diminishing electrical power. And remember that in the pattern, you have already slowed up so you do have a little time to sort things out before being carried too far away on downwind. It is no more difficult a task than is responding to an engine quitting in the pattern. Check the tanks, make sure you didn't turn it off when switching to fullest tank or that you did not pull the mixture rather than carb heat. These are quick action items that any pilot should be able to perform. In my opinion that is part of aviating. It seems like you believe differently and that is fine. You are free to fly the way you want to.

[cut]

It's clear you haven't tried this.

Same deal for the engine quitting in the pattern. Just land it. No troubleshooting. You don't have time.

The rule of thumb is 2000 AGL to pull out the engine failure in flight checklist (and then only AFTER establishing best glide, pulling carb heat if equipped, identifying a field, and calling a mayday). It's foolish to trade the possibility of restarting the engine with the possibility of a stall/spin in the pattern.

Try it before you say it's possible. 'Cause it isn't. You are dramatically underestimating how long this takes.

 

[RotorDude]

Would you be there without being cleared to land?

More times than I can remember. Extremely common.

 

[BigBadLou]

It is the age-old debate whether to land without clearance or not if one's radio goes out.
As my 10,000+hr ATP friend usually says: "What do you think the controller is expecting you to do? What did you come to do there to begin with?"

Yes, I realize I might be fueling a fiery debate but that is the practical look at the problem and I agree that it makes logical sense.

Now I am a little surprised at the controller's surprise over the phonecall because if I had lost comms with an airplace at my airfield (if I were a controller), it sure would be on my mind for a while and I'd be looking for him and discussing with others. And since the controller asked for an Ident, that is even more puzzling because they had the plane on the scope, even if just a primary return with no xpdr code (once the xpdr died). But that's just my mind wandering ... and wondering ... (don't hate me)

 

[roncachamp]

So, what do you do? I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts before I spoil you with the ending. I'll check back in after a few people have responded and let you know how it turned out. The good news is that I am here a few days later writing about it, so I can't be all that bad!

Assuming there had been no green light gun signal, I'd go around and take another trip around the pattern. On the second trip I'd look for light gun signals and if I did not see a red signal I would land.

 

[SkyDog58]

It's clear you haven't tried this.

Same deal for the engine quitting in the pattern. Just land it. No troubleshooting. You don't have time.

The rule of thumb is 2000 AGL to pull out the engine failure in flight checklist (and then only AFTER establishing best glide, pulling carb heat if equipped, identifying a field, and calling a mayday). It's foolish to trade the possibility of restarting the engine with the possibility of a stall/spin in the pattern.

Try it before you say it's possible. 'Cause it isn't. You are dramatically underestimating how long this takes.

Well, you certainly shouldn't project your level of comfort with your competency onto others. Maybe you need to pull out a checklist and go through it line by line every time you have a hiccup. Most don't.

 

[Matthew]

.
And since the controller asked for an Ident, that is even more puzzling because they had the plane on the scope, even if just a primary return with no xpdr code (once the xpdr died). But that's just my mind wandering ... and wondering ... (don't hate me)

You might be assuming too much. There was at least one plane in the pattern, the guy in front of you. There might have been others for the other rwy, or arriving or departing traffic. Asking to ident is a quick way to find the plane he's looking for. He doesn't know you had an electrical failure, he just knows you are not transmitting - if you ident he'll know you can rcv. He might have lost you because you weren't where he expected you to be - you landed and he might have been looking for you in the pattern since he hadn't cleared you to land. Maybe he took his eyes off you to grab the light gun?



edit: I just realized this was not the OP.

 

[azpilot]

You might be assuming too much. There was at least one plane in the pattern, the guy in front of you. There might have been others for the other rwy, or arriving or departing traffic. Asking to ident is a quick way to find the plane he's looking for. He doesn't know you had an electrical failure, he just knows you are not transmitting - if you ident he'll know you can rcv. He might have lost you because you weren't where he expected you to be - you landed and he might have been looking for you in the pattern since he hadn't cleared you to land. Maybe he took his eyes off you to grab the light gun?



edit: I just realized this was not the OP.

Keep in mind I became aware of the ident after the fact. I didn't know he asked me to ident while I was flying because the whole electrical system was dead. At the time I was turning final I was VERY concerned about other traffic. I was worried someone was descending above me. I was worried someone was coming up behind me. I was worried someone would turn base into me. I also knew that I had not heard a landing clearance and that I was risking getting into some serious trouble. But as I said earlier, at the time it felt like the safest and most prudent thing to do, so I did it.

I should also point out that the controller that answered the phone was NOT the controller that had given me the initial entry instructions on the radio. There were at least two people in the tower that day. The person that answered the phone was the one that was surprised to see me there. I believe the words I heard on the phone were, "Oh! There you are!" The other controller may not have been as surprised.

On a side note, I will also add that it was very odd to receive taxi instructions on the phone. I could hear everything the ground controller was saying, not just the things that were said when the PTT button was depressed. Also, we didn't use radio lingo, we used normal 'we are talking on the phone' lingo. It was very strange. Especially when it was time to cross the runway. Strange....

Lastly, I have a question and I am sure someone here knows the answer. How do you show up on radar when you don't have a transponder painting you? Do you fall off the radar completely? Can they still see you as a 'no transponder' blip? I assumed that because my transponder had failed I would basically be invisible to them on radar. Am I wrong? I don't know much about how radar works.

 

[MAKG1]

These are all excellent questions, and I'll suggest you call Tower back and ask for a tour. It will be eye opening. You won't regret it. Note that not all towers have radar.

 

[Matthew]

These are all excellent questions, and I'll suggest you call Tower back and ask for a tour. It will be eye opening. You won't regret it. Note that not all towers have radar.

Good idea.

How did you have the tower number anyway? It's not generally published.

 

[MAKG1]

Well, you certainly shouldn't project your level of comfort with your competency onto others. Maybe you need to pull out a checklist and go through it line by line every time you have a hiccup. Most don't.

I've actually tried this. Have you?

Even with a flow, it takes time to evaluate the emergency. If you just yank around every control, you are very likely to make it worse.

For instance, switching from an empty tank to a full one in a Cherokee takes more than 10 seconds for an effect. If you skip the checklist and forget the boost pump, it may never restart.

There are parts of every emergency checklist that should be committed to memory. Beyond that, you need a real decision process or you're done.

 

[azpilot]

These are all excellent questions, and I'll suggest you call Tower back and ask for a tour. It will be eye opening. You won't regret it. Note that not all towers have radar.

I have actually tried to set up a tour of the tower, but it has been rather difficult as there have been some security issues at this tower. I spoke with my instructor about it and he mentioned that I need to set it up through him. I will definitely go for it!

Also, thanks for all your input today. It has been really helpful to talk through this and get ideas from other people.

 

[azpilot]

Good idea.

How did you have the tower number anyway? It's not generally published.

Getting the tower phone number wasn't easy. It took about 10 minutes of digging around on google one day. I was actually deathly afraid of this exact scenario. I did some reading and some people suggested keeping the tower number is your cell phone.

After this all happened and I was back at the FBO talking to my instructor about what happened. He asked me what I would have done if I did not have the tower number in my cell phone. Answer - 1-800-WXBrief

 

[MAKG1]

Good idea.

How did you have the tower number anyway? It's not generally published.

I know one way.

A runway incursion will get you that number in a hurry.

Or you could just call the ground frequency when the radio works, and ask. Some instructors do this routinely.

 

[azpilot]

I know one way.

A runway incursion will get you that number in a hurry.

Or you could just call the ground frequency when the radio work, and ask. Some instructors do this routinely.

HA!!!! That's a good one. That was actually going through my mind as I was slipping down. I distinctly remember thinking I might have some explaining to do.

 

[Matthew]

Getting the tower phone number wasn't easy. It took about 10 minutes of digging around on google one day. I was actually deathly afraid of this exact scenario. I did some reading and some people suggested keeping the tower number is your cell phone.

After this all happened and I was back at the FBO talking to my instructor about what happened. He asked me what I would have done if I did not have the tower number in my cell phone. Answer - 1-800-WXBrief

Yeah, I was wondering if you called FSS to get it.

Good deal.

 

[azpilot]

I know one way.

A runway incursion will get you that number in a hurry.

Or you could just call the ground frequency when the radio works, and ask. Some instructors do this routinely.

The instructor that did my pre-solo stage check told me an interesting story. One day, he was flying with a different student. After landing, ground gave him the tower phone number and asked him to call. He was thinking through everything that happened and was wondering what he had done wrong. After getting the airplane put away at the FBO he nervously called the tower. The guy working ground was new and wanted to know who he could talk to about getting flight training.

I guess that phone call isn't always bad!

 

[MAKG1]

Well, it sounds like you've had a real good learning experience. I'd be dumbfounded if any consequence ever came of this, and now you know you can keep your wits when things go south. Not everyone can.

Nice bit of problem solving, too. FSS is a very good solution to getting a tower number. Most towers also have security intercoms at the gate.

 

[TommyG]

I would have done the same as the OP. Some suggest break off and go to an uncontrolled field. I disagree with that. At least at the towered field, someone is calling the shots. There is someone to tell the other aircraft what to do, unlike at a non towered field.

 

[Brad Z]

I've enjoyed reading these quick responses! Thanks everyone for chiming in!

I think if the examiner had asked me what to do during my oral exam, I likely would have said what several of you here have said, which is Go-around, fly the right traffic, and look for light gun signals. I will tell you, there is something about being right in the middle of the situation that makes things a little bit different. Maybe this is my lack of experience talking, but that is certainly how I felt.

As soon as I noticed the radio problem I was continually looking for light gun signals. They never came. I quickly ran through my immediate options. As I saw it, they were Land or go around. I didn't feel like I had time to do any troubleshooting given my position in the pattern. I could literally hear my instructor telling me "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate". In hindsite now I very much appreciate how much of a pain in the butt he was at times. I remember distinctly reminding myself that the airplane doesn't need the electrical system to fly and that the fan in front was stilling pulling the plane along.

In the seconds I had to think about it, I decided to land. The previous traffic had already cleared the runway. This is the far runway and is primarily used for touch and goes and arrivals. It is very seldome used for departures. In my mind it seemed that going around would cause more problems as it would put me in a position in which I had poor visibility and would not be able to communicate with anyone. The runway was 5000' x 75' of empty tarmac that I could see very well.

Being high wasn't too hard to deal with, I just slipped it down and touched down a bit long on the runway. I exited at the first available taxiway and sat there looking for light gun signals. After about 10 seconds, I remembered I had the tower phone number in my cell phone. I pulled it out, called the tower and informed them who I was, which taxiway I was on and that I had a radio failure. The controller gave me taxi instructions, helped me across 4L and over to the ramp. Right at the end before I hung up she told me "good job".

I went back and reviewed the liveatc.net archive of the tower frequency. After giving me the pattern entry instructions, the tower asked me to 'ident' a short time later. After that there were two more "radio check" calls. Based on that and the surprised sound on the other end of the phone when the person in the tower picked up the phone I am pretty sure they had no idea where I was, and that they didn't even know I landed. That made me even more glad I made the decision to land when I did.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, the NASA report is in the mail.

If you think you're having an emergency, then you're having an emergency. Total electrical failure for unknown reasons certainly could be a emergency, so I will not question your decision to land without a clearance.

Just one question though: did convienence play a part in your decision? After all, the FBO is there, your car is there, what a pain it would be to "land out" at a nearby non-towered field, etc. the only reason I bring this up is what if it was the opposite situation: what if you were at a distant airport that wasn't your home field, and you lost full electrical? Would you still land or would you head home to your home airport (or a closer non-towered field)? Reason I bring this up is that the NTSB a docket is filled with stories of pilots who detected something was wrong but elected to continue due to convienence. Be careful, it can sneak up on you...the temptation to fly even though one of the mags isn't quite right, or it's just one bad plug, etc. bottom line, if you think its an emergency, it's an emergency. Don't fly longer than you have to; land as soon as practicABLE.