Narrative:

Climbing out of jfk, had strong electrical smell throughout aircraft. Declared emergency and returned to jfk for overweight landing - - 330000 pound sink rate, 200 FPM. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the captain said that the cabin attendants told the crew about the electrical fumes shortly after liftoff. He thinks that they were about 500 ft above the runway when they first rang the flight crew. He said that the first officer started the A300-600 'smoke and fumes' checklist and this was followed by attempting to isolate the bleed system to find the source of the smoke. Later the flight crew checked as many of the electrical loads as possible, but they could not locate the source of the fumes. As they finished their various checks, he said they noticed that the fumes had just about dissipated from the flight station so he thought that it may be possible to continue the flight. He said that he called the cabin attendants and they reported that the odor was still strong in the cabin and that they and the passenger were very concerned. With that, he said that he declared an emergency and requested a return to jfk. This was an overweight landing, but the initial inspection showed no damage as the touchdown was within the parameters for this weight. The reporter said that he did not know what caused the smoke and fumes because he had to get another A300 ready to continue the flight.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR A300 FLC RPT THAT THEY HAD A STRONG SMELL OF ELECTRICAL SMOKE IN THE ACFT LEADING THEM TO RETURN LAND.

Narrative: CLBING OUT OF JFK, HAD STRONG ELECTRICAL SMELL THROUGHOUT ACFT. DECLARED EMER AND RETURNED TO JFK FOR OVERWT LNDG - - 330000 LB SINK RATE, 200 FPM. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE CAPT SAID THAT THE CABIN ATTENDANTS TOLD THE CREW ABOUT THE ELECTRICAL FUMES SHORTLY AFTER LIFTOFF. HE THINKS THAT THEY WERE ABOUT 500 FT ABOVE THE RWY WHEN THEY FIRST RANG THE FLC. HE SAID THAT THE FO STARTED THE A300-600 'SMOKE AND FUMES' CHKLIST AND THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY ATTEMPTING TO ISOLATE THE BLEED SYS TO FIND THE SOURCE OF THE SMOKE. LATER THE FLC CHKED AS MANY OF THE ELECTRICAL LOADS AS POSSIBLE, BUT THEY COULD NOT LOCATE THE SOURCE OF THE FUMES. AS THEY FINISHED THEIR VARIOUS CHKS, HE SAID THEY NOTICED THAT THE FUMES HAD JUST ABOUT DISSIPATED FROM THE FLT STATION SO HE THOUGHT THAT IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO CONTINUE THE FLT. HE SAID THAT HE CALLED THE CABIN ATTENDANTS AND THEY RPTED THAT THE ODOR WAS STILL STRONG IN THE CABIN AND THAT THEY AND THE PAX WERE VERY CONCERNED. WITH THAT, HE SAID THAT HE DECLARED AN EMER AND REQUESTED A RETURN TO JFK. THIS WAS AN OVERWT LNDG, BUT THE INITIAL INSPECTION SHOWED NO DAMAGE AS THE TOUCHDOWN WAS WITHIN THE PARAMETERS FOR THIS WT. THE RPTR SAID THAT HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE SMOKE AND FUMES BECAUSE HE HAD TO GET ANOTHER A300 READY TO CONTINUE THE FLT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.