General aviation pilot reports experiences electrical failure at 11500 feet and continues toward FME using hand held GPS unit. This unit fails 150 miles south of FME and the reporter elects to land at the first airport he encounters; a military field; which is located inside a restricted area. Along the way a TFR was also penetrated.

Date: 2009-08 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; Low Wing; 1 Eng; Retractable Gear

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|airspace-violation-all-types|inflight-event-encounter-weather-turbulence

Synopsis

General aviation pilot reports experiences electrical failure at 11500 feet and continues toward FME using hand held GPS unit. This unit fails 150 miles south of FME and the reporter elects to land at the first airport he encounters; a military field; which is located inside a restricted area. Along the way a TFR was also penetrated.

Narrative

I was flying VFR to FME with a planned fuel stop outside of the Washington/Baltimore airspace. I was receiving flight following when I noticed a drain of electricity on my ammeter. Soon after I lost my electrical system and contact with ATC. I had a back up GPS so I elected to continue on the 450 mile track. Weather was worse than expected so I spent a lot of time concentrating on flying and ended up flying into a moving TFR (Presidential). As I flew closer to my destination 150 miles from FME the battery in my hand held GPS died. So with no communication; navigation and storms getting worse I elected to land at the first airport I came to. The airport ZZZ ended up being in restricted airspace and a Naval Air Station. The contributing factors are loss of the electrical system. I forgot about the TFR over Raleigh; NC; thunderstorms over my entire route and not looking at the chart long enough to determine the airspace and airport I was going to. I didn't really have a corrective action since I was doing the safest thing for the flight but if this occurs again; I'll land ASAP instead of continuing the flight.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.