A strong odor was detected by a md-80's pilots; flight attendants; and passengers after takeoff so a...

Attributes
ACN	1035602
Time
Date	201209
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-82
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Type 17000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Narrative:

During initial climb flight crew; cabin crew and passengers detected strong odor. It was quickly determined that no smoke or toxic fumes appeared to be the cause. We initially thought it might have been a blown tire and since the odor persisted the captain elected to declare an emergency and return to the departure airport. We maneuvered east of the field to lose altitude and made an uneventful landing. We were inspected by airfield rescue and fire fighters and escorted back to the gate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A strong odor was detected by a MD-80's pilots; flight attendants; and passengers after takeoff so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: During initial climb flight crew; cabin crew and passengers detected strong odor. It was quickly determined that no smoke or toxic fumes appeared to be the cause. We initially thought it might have been a blown tire and since the odor persisted the Captain elected to declare an emergency and return to the departure airport. We maneuvered east of the field to lose altitude and made an uneventful landing. We were inspected by Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighters and escorted back to the gate.

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.

A strong odor was detected by a md-80's pilots; flight attendants; and passengers after takeoff so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure airport.