What happened
On 5 December 2003, a Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, registration N8326Y, departed Jersey Airport bound for Kortrijk, Belgium. Approximately 20 minutes into the flight, Brest Air Traffic Control notified the pilot that his transponder signal was not being received. Despite attempts to reset the equipment, the pilot was denied entry into controlled airspace and elected to return to Jersey.
During the return flight, the aircraft suffered a progressive failure of its electrical systems, beginning with the communications radio transmitter and culminating in a total loss of all electrical power. The pilot utilized a handheld radio to declare an emergency with Jersey Air Traffic Control. To manage the landing, the crew used the emergency gear extension system. Due to the lack of cockpit instrumentation, a passenger used a torch to assist the pilot in monitoring instruments, and the pilot performed two flypasts of the control tower to visually confirm the landing gear was extended.
While landing on Runway 09, the nosewheel collapsed, followed by both main landing gears. The aircraft slid along the runway before coming to a stop. There were no injuries to the pilot or the two passengers on board.
The investigation
Investigators examined the aircraft's electrical systems and landing gear mechanism. Maintenance personnel from the aircraft's home base in Belgium inspected the plane at Jersey approximately six weeks later. They noted that while the battery was weak, it was capable of providing power, and they could not replicate the electrical failures.
At the time of the inspection, the landing gear lights were functioning correctly, showing 'three greens'. Because the aircraft was not positioned on jacks, the investigators were unable to examine the operation of the emergency gear extension mechanism.