A C210 pilot detected a burnt plastic odor and a small amount of white smoke; so he returned to his ...

Attributes
ACN	1038886
Time
Date	201209
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C 210D
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	GPS & Other Satellite Navigation
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 2 Flight Crew Total 995 Flight Crew Type 165
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

After departure I made contact with approach and was assigned squawk for flight following to destination. While climbing to cruising altitude of 9;500 ft there was a smell of burnt plastic and small amount of white smoke. All engine instruments indicate normal operation. No circuit breakers blown. Told ATC was going to change destination and return to the departure airport. [I] made the 180 to return still no indication from instruments of malfunction. Believing the smoke was electrical I turned off all radios and electronic devices not needed for flight and removed from under right seat the fire extinguisher and continued to my destination. Once I had the airport in sight I told approach and they cleared me to change frequencies and to keep my assigned squawk. Still with small amount of white smoke made normal landing and taxi to parking. Before shutdown [I had] no indication from instruments of abnormal operation. After shutdown opened all doors and let light smoke out. No indication of any further smoke accumulation at this time. I believe the cause of the events to be directly related to hand held GPS that was wired and mounted in the panel during annual.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C210 pilot detected a burnt plastic odor and a small amount of white smoke; so he returned to his departure airport where he discovered a failed portable GPS receiver which was wired into the aircraft electrical system.

Narrative: After departure I made contact with Approach and was assigned squawk for flight following to destination. While climbing to cruising altitude of 9;500 FT there was a smell of burnt plastic and small amount of white smoke. All engine instruments indicate normal operation. No circuit breakers blown. Told ATC was going to change destination and return to the departure airport. [I] made the 180 to return still no indication from instruments of malfunction. Believing the smoke was electrical I turned off all radios and electronic devices not needed for flight and removed from under right seat the fire extinguisher and continued to my destination. Once I had the airport in sight I told Approach and they cleared me to change frequencies and to keep my assigned squawk. Still with small amount of white smoke made normal landing and taxi to parking. Before shutdown [I had] no indication from instruments of abnormal operation. After shutdown opened all doors and let light smoke out. No indication of any further smoke accumulation at this time. I believe the cause of the events to be directly related to hand held GPS that was wired and mounted in the panel during annual.

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.