This is the first time this happened to me .I lost all electrical power mid flight .What can I do so this will not happen again??

might be a random failure, or mismanagement, in first case, turn random failures off, in second case, dont mismanage.

All electrical means all power? AC and DC? There was a working instrument or all was off?

Check your battery switch and make sure it is ON, also check the meters to see what is OFF, if all is off I think you have a problem related to ngx installation.

Not sure if it's right, but with a total electrical failure my first thought would be to start the APU, but does it also need some electrical power to start?? :rolleyes:

Exactly, it depends on how "total" the failure is.

If you lose all electrical power including the batteries at the same time, you can't start the APU and it won't help anyways. In the rear case that you lose all engine generators or even all engines, you better try to fire up the APU and get the power back, else you will be sitting in the dark pretty soon.

Some aircraft, the A320 or the MD11 as an example have an ADG. When you have a bad day and you loose three engine generators, the APU won't fire up and your batteries running low, then you at last have a littlemwindmill which provides backup power.

Either it had been a bug or the OP forgot some important checklist items, like battery switch, connecting both generators, or maybe even forgot fuel, but without further information we can't say.

you can't start the APU and it won't help anyways.

 

The APU would at least provide lighting and the flight instruments I believe. It does afterall provide enough power on the ground pre startup. As always I stand to be corrected.

Yeah, in theory it would, but if something knocked out the engine geneartors and (!) the DC batteries, the APU probably can't help much anymore. Because if you loose the batteries and the geneartors, there has to be a serious trouble, like a fire or mechanical damage which cut the bus lines.

 

The APU would at least provide lighting and the flight instruments I believe. It does afterall provide enough power on the ground pre startup. As always I stand to be corrected.

 

Especially when you loose one generator (or maybe even both) the APU is very usefull to prevent the batteries from discharging and it probably would be able to bring the FO's displays back online. :wink:

All my warning lights came on and all lights for fuel power came on .it looked like a xmas tree. my numbers such as speed alt. head all went to zero.Be advised I was crusing at FL 380

Then you don't have lost all your power, there has to be something diffrent wrong.

I am not sure what caused this, but some things I could imagine:

-you accidentally hit the "annunicator light test switch", however this wouldn't explain the problem with the IAS and altitude reading 0.

-you accidentally ran out of fuel, however this wouldn't explain the IAS and altitude reading 0.

-you accidentally loaded an panel state midflight

-bug

 

Without further information and maybe a screenshot, showing the overhead and the main panel if it happens again, we probably won't be able to find out what happened.

 

Best regards,

 

Jonathan

ADG RAT and so on are used to power the aircraft on aircrafts that needs either or both hyd and electric power to move surfaces. The 737 can fly with no electrical power and no hydraulics, assuming it is a good day and you're lucky. Also if engines are shut down and apu is not avaiable tha manual reversion will let you sail the plane to a possible emergency landing or controlled crash.

FBW planes or hyd operated control surfaces needs hydraulic power or they are useless.

This means that an hydraulic source must be avaiable, for the airbus the hyd power is provided directly by the RAT, on CRJs equipped with ADG the power is electrical and will feed one hydraulic electric pump.

Different applications of the same logic: Without onboard generators (engines APU), the aircraft must still be flyable.

 

As stated before, if you have a xmas tree, the aircraft is not completely shut down.

Before of all, check fuel, then, post a screenshot, it is strange that altitude and speed readings goes to 0.