B767-400 flight crew reported a recirculation fan failure in the flight deck resulting in smoke and ...

Attributes
ACN	1617980
Time
Date	201902
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-400 and 400 ER
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Recirculation Fan
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 252 Flight Crew Total 13066 Flight Crew Type 7756
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 142 Flight Crew Total 8841 Flight Crew Type 5436
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

After takeoff at level off at FL300 we got both left & right recir fan EICAS messages left & right recir fan inop lights on overhead panel. QRH is pilot awareness only. States 'indicates the fan is failed or not operating.' we turned off both left & right recir fans. Both eicias messages and inop lights (overhead) extinguished. Turned both recir fans back on one at a time. Right recir fan EICAS and inop (overhead) stayed extinguished. Left recir fan EICAS reappeared. Turned off left recir fan. Continued with right recir fan on with no EICAS message or inop light on overhead. 90 minutes later - burning smell in the cockpit. Shortly thereafter smoke appeared coming out of the grasper vent behind first officer (first officer) seat above jumpseat. No EICAS messages. Immediately turned off right recir fan - smoke immediately stopped and smell subsided. Contacted dispatch; [maintenance control] and [operations] via sat comm. All agreed most likely burned right recir fan and ok to continue unless subsequent further issues. [Operations] checked and relayed via ACARS that this is a common occurrence on the 767-400 and as long as no additional smoke; ok to continue. No further issues remainder of fight. Normal approach and landing in ZZZ.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767-400 flight crew reported a recirculation fan failure in the flight deck resulting in smoke and fumes event.

Narrative: After takeoff at level off at FL300 we got both L & R RECIR Fan EICAS Messages L & R Recir Fan Inop lights on overhead panel. QRH is Pilot Awareness only. States 'Indicates the fan is failed or not operating.' We turned off both L & R Recir Fans. Both EICIAS messages and inop lights (overhead) extinguished. Turned both Recir Fans back on one at a time. Right Recir Fan EICAS and Inop (overhead) stayed extinguished. Left Recir Fan EICAS reappeared. Turned off Left Recir Fan. Continued with right Recir Fan on with no EICAS message or Inop light on overhead. 90 minutes later - burning smell in the cockpit. Shortly thereafter smoke appeared coming out of the grasper vent behind FO (First Officer) seat above Jumpseat. No EICAS messages. Immediately turned off right Recir Fan - Smoke immediately stopped and smell subsided. Contacted Dispatch; [Maintenance Control] and [Operations] via Sat Comm. All agreed most likely burned Right Recir Fan and ok to continue unless subsequent further issues. [Operations] checked and relayed via ACARS that this is a common occurrence on the 767-400 and as long as no additional smoke; ok to continue. No further issues remainder of fight. Normal approach and landing in ZZZ.

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.