Narrative:

Slight; cyclical vibrations not attributable to engines sensed at FL360 just prior to descent. Upon descent vibration became more frequent and duration longer (seemed to be localized to the right lower cockpit area). Passing through approximately 10;000-8;000 ft MSL vibration became more pronounced and continuous along with burning metal/acrid odor in the cockpit as well as forward right galley area confirmed with the cabin crew. [Advised ATC]. Expedited handling was provided and uneventful landing made. Arff met aircraft after taxi clear of runway and inspected aircraft with no noticeable damage or area of concern. Continued expedited taxi to gate escorted by arff. Excellent job by ATC and arff. Maintenance personnel after landing opined from our description of the event that it sounded like the overboard outflow fan failed inflight and that it was fairly routine or frequent. Review the frequency data of this component's failure and recommend if necessary an engineering investigation to determine need for modification of maintenance inspection frequency or recommendation of component manufacturing specifications.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A321 flight crew reported noticing vibration and odor probably related to the failure of an outflow fan.

Narrative: Slight; cyclical vibrations not attributable to engines sensed at FL360 just prior to descent. Upon descent vibration became more frequent and duration longer (seemed to be localized to the right lower cockpit area). Passing through approximately 10;000-8;000 ft MSL vibration became more pronounced and continuous along with burning metal/acrid odor in the cockpit as well as forward right galley area confirmed with the cabin crew. [Advised ATC]. Expedited handling was provided and uneventful landing made. ARFF met aircraft after taxi clear of runway and inspected aircraft with no noticeable damage or area of concern. Continued expedited taxi to gate escorted by ARFF. Excellent job by ATC and ARFF. Maintenance personnel after landing opined from our description of the event that it sounded like the overboard outflow fan failed inflight and that it was fairly routine or frequent. Review the frequency data of this component's failure and recommend if necessary an engineering investigation to determine need for modification of maintenance inspection frequency or recommendation of component manufacturing specifications.

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.