Narrative:

While in cruise flight; a flight attendant reported unknown fumes. The captain handled the cabin communications and he had me handle the radio in addition to pilot flying duties. Soon; we both detected the fumes and I believe that they seemed to be electrical in nature. We both donned our oxygen masks and captain performed QRH procedure for smoke/fumes. After completing the checklist for smoke/fumes captain consulted with the dispatcher. Captain decided to divert to the nearest suitable airport. Shortly thereafter; cabin crew reported nausea/illness with at least 2 of the members and possibly one passenger. Medlink was not consulted or discussed due to the urgency of the situation. Captain declared an emergency and I flew as fast as feasible to divert destination. Upon initial contact with approach control; captain requested and was granted no speed restriction below 10;000 ft MSL. Additionally; approach control offered the approach and landing to the opposite direction runway and accepted after consulting with me. We made this decision based on calm/negligible winds; unlimited visibility; and it would save precious minutes. On the approach; I maneuvered the aircraft due to higher than normal speed above profile in order to attain a stabilized approach at about 1;000 ft AGL. Subsequent approach and landing were routine and I used higher than normal braking in order to exit the runway quickly. We decided that since the fumes were not increasing; we elected to go to the gate. Ground and ramp control helped facilitate a quick docking at the gate where we were met with airport emt responders. All maintenance and flight operation procedures were followed to such an extent that I would have done nothing different if this occurred in the future.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A321 diverted after the flight attendants reported unknown fumes which were later detected by the flight crew who then declared an emergency and completed the Smoke/Fume QRH procedure.

Narrative: While in cruise flight; a flight attendant reported unknown fumes. The Captain handled the cabin communications and he had me handle the radio in addition to pilot flying duties. Soon; we both detected the fumes and I believe that they seemed to be electrical in nature. We both donned our oxygen masks and Captain performed QRH procedure for smoke/fumes. After completing the checklist for smoke/fumes Captain consulted with the Dispatcher. Captain decided to divert to the nearest suitable airport. Shortly thereafter; cabin crew reported nausea/illness with at least 2 of the members and possibly one passenger. Medlink was not consulted or discussed due to the urgency of the situation. Captain declared an emergency and I flew as fast as feasible to divert destination. Upon initial contact with Approach Control; Captain requested and was granted no speed restriction below 10;000 FT MSL. Additionally; Approach Control offered the approach and landing to the opposite direction runway and accepted after consulting with me. We made this decision based on calm/negligible winds; unlimited visibility; and it would save precious minutes. On the approach; I maneuvered the aircraft due to higher than normal speed above profile in order to attain a stabilized approach at about 1;000 FT AGL. Subsequent approach and landing were routine and I used higher than normal braking in order to exit the runway quickly. We decided that since the fumes were not increasing; we elected to go to the gate. Ground and Ramp Control helped facilitate a quick docking at the gate where we were met with airport EMT responders. All maintenance and flight operation procedures were followed to such an extent that I would have done nothing different if this occurred in the future.

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.