The captain of an ATR-72 hauling cargo noticed fumes in the cabin. An emergency was declared and the...

Narrative:

Being 135nm from the airport I went to the cargo area and noticed by smell that there was fumes coming from the hazmat boxes in zone 2; (flammable liquids). Proceeded to inspect them and one had visible moisture. Came back to the cockpit and informed the sic of the situation. Immediately we declared emergency to ATC and chose the nearest airport as our best suitable airport for descent out of 20;000 feet. The event might have occurred because probably there was a weak hazmat can inside the box that let the fumes come out. Personal suggestion is to have a better inspection of hazmat packages.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Captain of an ATR-72 hauling cargo noticed fumes in the cabin. An emergency was declared and the flight diverted to a nearby airport. A container had visible liquid on it.

Narrative: Being 135nm from the Airport I went to the cargo area and noticed by smell that there was fumes coming from the HAZMAT boxes in zone 2; (Flammable Liquids). Proceeded to inspect them and one had visible moisture. Came back to the cockpit and informed the SIC of the situation. Immediately we declared emergency to ATC and chose the nearest airport as our best suitable airport for descent out of 20;000 feet. The event might have occurred because probably there was a weak HAZMAT can inside the box that let the fumes come out. Personal suggestion is to have a better inspection of HAZMAT packages.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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	845677
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	ATR 72
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

The captain of an ATR-72 hauling cargo noticed fumes in the cabin. An emergency was declared and the flight diverted to a nearby airport. A container had visible liquid on it.