<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1442893, February 2017

A330 captain reported smelling a strong odor and fumes after takeoff; and then again on descent to a lesser degree.

Attributes
ACN	1442893
Time
Date	201702
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A330
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness

Narrative:

Immediately after gear retraction on the flight; the first officer and I smelled a very strong odor of fumes that I would describe as dirty socks and an oily smell. We donned oxygen masks. A few minutes later; I briefly raised my mask off my face and could no longer detect any unusual odors. On approach into ZZZ1; we smelled the fumes again; and donned oxygen masks. However; this time the fumes were not as strong as on takeoff. In hindsight; it is clear that the better decision than continuing the flight would have been to return to the departure airport. The first officer has communicated with me several times since then; advising that he has experienced headaches since this fume event occurred.

Related reports:

• Md-11 captain reported strong oily fumes during descent.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A330 Captain reported smelling a strong odor and fumes after takeoff; and then again on descent to a lesser degree.

Narrative: Immediately after gear retraction on the flight; the FO and I smelled a very strong odor of fumes that I would describe as dirty socks and an oily smell. We donned oxygen masks. A few minutes later; I briefly raised my mask off my face and could no longer detect any unusual odors. On approach into ZZZ1; we smelled the fumes again; and donned oxygen masks. However; this time the fumes were not as strong as on takeoff. In hindsight; it is clear that the better decision than continuing the flight would have been to return to the departure airport. The FO has communicated with me several times since then; advising that he has experienced headaches since this fume event occurred.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.