19970921040469I

Lost electric power unoticed by pilot. Had to pump gear down. No nose lock light. Nose gear collapsed landing. (-23) the aircraft had a power failure, the alternator failed to charge the battery at start up or during the flight. This power failure was a contributing factor in that the hydraulic system is powered by an electrical motor. The gear position is indicated via electric lights which compounded the problem. The emergency procedures in the aircraft operating manual do not address a gear situation with no power for gear position indications. The emergency procedures in the aircraft operations manual state to pump until resistance becomes heavy;--about 35 cycles. Look for gear down light. This situation leaves much to interpretation. The pilot and his son pumped until they felt the resistance and assumed the gears were all down and locked. I feel the pilot did everything according to procedures in the manual. The problem is, the manual does not address a power failure situation and no gear warning lights. The battery was dead. It was charged after the incident by aviation sales maintenance department. They said it charged up norm al and no problems were noted with the battery or the capacity. Test results of the alternator indicate the alternator was operational. Now with the battery dead there was no voltage to activate the field portion of the alternator, thus it would not charge when the pilot reset the alternator switch during the emergency procedures.