A B767 crew; prior to coast out; returned to land because of smoke and suspected right circulation f...

Attributes
ACN	960797
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 159 Flight Crew Total 19100 Flight Crew Type 1800
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

Enroute to the us prior to coast out I; and my first officer; detected the strong smell of smoke in the cockpit. Meanwhile the flight attendants called from the cabin to report the smell of smoke. While performing the smoke/fire procedure the EICAS displayed a failure of the right recirculation fan. Several minutes after the EICAS message the smoke began to dissipate. The consensus was that the right recirculation fan was the cause of the smoke. However; without access to the electronics compartment we determined that landing as soon as possible was the best choice. We wanted a qualified mechanic to determine that the recirculation fan was indeed the cause of the smoke and that no surrounding equipment was damaged in the fire. An immediate landing required us to land overweight. The overweight landing was uneventful.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767 crew; prior to coast out; returned to land because of smoke and suspected right circulation fan failure.

Narrative: Enroute to the US prior to coast out I; and my First Officer; detected the strong smell of smoke in the cockpit. Meanwhile the flight attendants called from the cabin to report the smell of smoke. While performing the smoke/fire procedure the EICAS displayed a failure of the right recirculation fan. Several minutes after the EICAS message the smoke began to dissipate. The consensus was that the right recirculation fan was the cause of the smoke. However; without access to the electronics compartment we determined that landing as soon as possible was the best choice. We wanted a qualified mechanic to determine that the recirculation fan was indeed the cause of the smoke and that no surrounding equipment was damaged in the fire. An immediate landing required us to land overweight. The overweight landing was uneventful.

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.