B757 first officer reported returning to departure airport after a flight attendant reported fumes i...

Narrative:

First flight of day. Aircraft was in hangar overnight. After entry doors closed; flight attendant reported her work lights in the front gallery weren't working properly. Called [maintenance]; they deferred it. Taxied out; took off.about 500 feet; flight attendants called and said they smelled fumes mid and aft cabin. We smelled nothing in flight deck. Captain turned on autopilot; and told me I had the aircraft and ATC communications while he ran checklists. Climbed to 14;000 feet; then informed ATC we want to return to [departure airport]. Captain ran checklist; informed passengers and flight attendants. When he was settled; he became flying pilot again. Did an over weight landing. And had the arff trucks follow us to the gate.upon landing; the equipment overheat light; and right engine probe light came on. Pulled up to gate; no evacuation. Air and rescue fire fighting (arff) came up to flight deck and said things looked ok from outside. We explained to [maintenance] what happened; and they mentioned that the right recirculation fan had a history; and that the aircraft was engine washed the night before; so that could be the issue of the smell. As we were packing up to get off aircraft; [maintenance] turned the recirculation fans on; and we could smell fumes in the cabin.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 First Officer reported returning to departure airport after a Flight Attendant reported fumes in the cabin; probably related to a recirculation fan issue.

Narrative: First flight of day. Aircraft was in hangar overnight. After entry doors closed; Flight Attendant reported her work lights in the front gallery weren't working properly. Called [Maintenance]; they deferred it. Taxied out; took off.About 500 feet; Flight Attendants called and said they smelled fumes mid and aft cabin. We smelled nothing in flight deck. Captain turned on autopilot; and told me I had the aircraft and ATC communications while he ran checklists. Climbed to 14;000 feet; then informed ATC we want to return to [departure airport]. Captain ran checklist; informed passengers and flight attendants. When he was settled; he became flying pilot again. Did an over weight landing. and had the ARFF trucks follow us to the gate.Upon landing; the Equipment Overheat light; and Right Engine Probe light came on. Pulled up to gate; no evacuation. Air and Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) came up to flight deck and said things looked ok from outside. We explained to [Maintenance] what happened; and they mentioned that the Right Recirculation fan had a history; and that the aircraft was engine washed the night before; so that could be the issue of the smell. As we were packing up to get off aircraft; [Maintenance] turned the Recirculation fans on; and we could smell fumes in the cabin.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1551295
Time
Date	201806
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Recirculation Fan
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

B757 first officer reported returning to departure airport after a flight attendant reported fumes in the cabin; probably related to a recirculation fan issue.