In 2003, mechanical and maintenance were the major cause of 15% of all GA accidents, and 7.5% of fatal accidents

Typically, one mistake or failure—a precipitating event—leads to another in a cascading series of malfunctions and mistakes, culminatiing in an accident. This is called the accident chain.

By any calculation, the average pilot could fly many, many lifetimes without having an accident of any sort, let alone a much more rare fatal mishap.

In 2003, electrical/ignition failures accounted for 3% of all accidents, and 0% of fatal accidents.

2004 Nall Report

 
 

CIRRUS Monthly Proficiency Program
3 part series on IFR operations
August – Part 1: Electrical Systems



ALT 2 Failure

  • Follow the appropriate checklist in the POH.
  • If you are unable to bring the alternator back online, ALT 1 can supply the entire electrical load to the airplane. There would be no need to begin load shedding on the Non-Essential Bus, Main Bus 1 or Main Bus 2.
  • If after an ALT 2 failure the ALT 1 annunciator begins to flash, indicating an overcurrent situation, you would need to begin load shedding on the Non-Essential Bus, Main Bus 1 and Main Bus 2.
  • Consider diverting to a suitable field for service on the airplane or to VFR (Visual Flight Rules) weather conditions.

Why is ALT 2 only 20 amps?
Because the diode is designed to prevent a single point of failure, ALT 2 is only required to supply power to a small portion of the electrical system.



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