Narrative:

While holding at rivrs intersection, arriving stl, first officer and myself smelled what seemed like electrical smoke/burning smell in cockpit only. Smell cleared in 10-15 seconds. Requested flight attendant check cabin and lavatory and turn off galley hot jugs -- no smoke, fire or other warnings. Retrieved and ran cabin fire/smoke checklist. No further evidence of fumes and no source could be determined. Smelled same fumes again 10 mins later. Declared emergency and proceeded direct to stl. Informed flight attendant. Again, no smell in cabin. Smell again cleared in 10-15 seconds. While on short final, smell occurred again, and once again after landing we were met by crash fire rescue equipment crew, who reported no external evidence of fire. Proceeded directly to gate by about a 1 min taxi, and evacuate/evacuationed aircraft through normal boarding door and stairs. I immediately shut down all power and exited aircraft with passenger to talk to crash fire rescue equipment crew. No evidence of fire found. Resulting maintenance inspection found no abnormalities. Cause was determined to be water in air conditioning packs. If this is a normal occurrence in heavy rain, we need to be aware of this to prevent further unneeded emergencys. We were under the impression that the smell was non specific electrical, when simply turning off bleed/pack #1 would have solved the problem.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMER DECLARED ACCOUNT OF FUMES IN COCKPIT BY AN EMB135 FLC AT RIVRS INTXN, IL.

Narrative: WHILE HOLDING AT RIVRS INTXN, ARRIVING STL, FO AND MYSELF SMELLED WHAT SEEMED LIKE ELECTRICAL SMOKE/BURNING SMELL IN COCKPIT ONLY. SMELL CLRED IN 10-15 SECONDS. REQUESTED FLT ATTENDANT CHK CABIN AND LAVATORY AND TURN OFF GALLEY HOT JUGS -- NO SMOKE, FIRE OR OTHER WARNINGS. RETRIEVED AND RAN CABIN FIRE/SMOKE CHKLIST. NO FURTHER EVIDENCE OF FUMES AND NO SOURCE COULD BE DETERMINED. SMELLED SAME FUMES AGAIN 10 MINS LATER. DECLARED EMER AND PROCEEDED DIRECT TO STL. INFORMED FLT ATTENDANT. AGAIN, NO SMELL IN CABIN. SMELL AGAIN CLRED IN 10-15 SECONDS. WHILE ON SHORT FINAL, SMELL OCCURRED AGAIN, AND ONCE AGAIN AFTER LNDG WE WERE MET BY CFR CREW, WHO RPTED NO EXTERNAL EVIDENCE OF FIRE. PROCEEDED DIRECTLY TO GATE BY ABOUT A 1 MIN TAXI, AND EVACED ACFT THROUGH NORMAL BOARDING DOOR AND STAIRS. I IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN ALL PWR AND EXITED ACFT WITH PAX TO TALK TO CFR CREW. NO EVIDENCE OF FIRE FOUND. RESULTING MAINT INSPECTION FOUND NO ABNORMALITIES. CAUSE WAS DETERMINED TO BE WATER IN AIR CONDITIONING PACKS. IF THIS IS A NORMAL OCCURRENCE IN HVY RAIN, WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THIS TO PREVENT FURTHER UNNEEDED EMERS. WE WERE UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THE SMELL WAS NON SPECIFIC ELECTRICAL, WHEN SIMPLY TURNING OFF BLEED/PACK #1 WOULD HAVE SOLVED THE PROB.

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.