An md-82 flight crew experienced electrical smoke in the cockpit on initial climb. They declared an ...

Narrative:

Passing about 3;000 ft [in climb] I noticed a slight acrid (electrical) smell. Simultaneously; the first officer then reported he saw a puff of smoke about 8-10 inches in diameter (light grey color) in the vicinity of the hydraulic pump switches and could also smell smoke. The smell increased in the next few seconds; however; there was no visible smoke after the initial puff of smoke. An emergency was declared and we requested vectors back to [departure airport]. I notified the flight attendants of the emergency. Aircraft was landed overweight at about 134;600 pounds at approximately 135 KTS. The smoke smelled electrical and even though it had dissipated; it was still noticeable after gate arrival. Responding fire equipment evaluated the aircraft for hot spots immediately after landing and after parking at the gate. No hot spots were identified. The cause of the smoke in the cockpit was identified by maintenance to be related to the TCAS display.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An MD-82 flight crew experienced electrical smoke in the cockpit on initial climb. They declared an emergency and returned to departure airport; where the smoke was reportedly traced to the TCAS unit.

Narrative: Passing about 3;000 FT [in climb] I noticed a slight acrid (electrical) smell. Simultaneously; the First Officer then reported he saw a puff of smoke about 8-10 inches in diameter (light grey color) in the vicinity of the hydraulic pump switches and could also smell smoke. The smell increased in the next few seconds; however; there was no visible smoke after the initial puff of smoke. An emergency was declared and we requested vectors back to [departure airport]. I notified the flight attendants of the emergency. Aircraft was landed overweight at about 134;600 LBS at approximately 135 KTS. The smoke smelled electrical and even though it had dissipated; it was still noticeable after gate arrival. Responding fire equipment evaluated the aircraft for hot spots immediately after landing and after parking at the gate. No hot spots were identified. The cause of the smoke in the cockpit was identified by maintenance to be related to the TCAS display.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1001598
Time
Date	201203
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-82
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Component
Aircraft Component	Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 19500
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

An md-82 flight crew experienced electrical smoke in the cockpit on initial climb. They declared an emergency and returned to departure airport; where the smoke was reportedly traced to the TCAS unit.