A B777 flight crew on an oceanic flight reported a flight attendant called saying they had a strong ...

Narrative:

Flight attendant called us from door 3 right stating there was a strong burning rubber smell from that area. I sent the first officer back to verify that and to see if he could find a source. He returned asking that I go back and check it out as he stated the same as the flight attendant that it was a very strong burning rubber smell in that area. When I arrived by door 3 right I too smelled the same odor; so strong that it made my eyes burn and throat itch after a few minutes. There was no smell of those fumes in the lavs but did exist also by door 3 left. At that time I personally decided that we needed to turn around and head back as it was not subsiding but actually getting worse and we could find no source. Back on the flight deck I told my first officer of my decision and he wholeheartedly agreed and we told the purser to suspend all services and to clean up for a landing in 40 minutes.I turned the aircraft control over to the first office and attempted twice to raise and get a return clearance from oceanic on satcom but their phone just kept ringing with no answer which was very disturbing as this happened to me once before 5 years ago. I then went over to HF and contacted [commercial radio] and declared an emergency advising them we were turning back to [departure airport] on the alpha track with a 15 mile offset to the north and descending to 33;500 ft...we also advised dispatch and made a call on 123.45 to advise all aircraft in the area squawking 7700 and turning on all of our exterior lights. We received our clearance 5 minutes later on HF and proceeded to [departure airport]...the fumes/odor persisted until we descended to 10;000 ft and then subsided according to the flight attendant at door 3 right. We did land 25;000 pounds over weight as we were task saturated and looked up the numbers to find we would only need a runway length of 8;100 ft so we did not dump fuel. The landing was uneventful.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777 flight crew on an oceanic flight reported a flight attendant called saying they had a strong burning rubber smell in the cabin. Their return to departure airport was complicated by difficulty reaching ATC on SATCOM.

Narrative: Flight Attendant called us from door 3 right stating there was a strong burning rubber smell from that area. I sent the First Officer back to verify that and to see if he could find a source. He returned asking that I go back and check it out as he stated the same as the flight attendant that it was a very strong burning rubber smell in that area. When I arrived by door 3 right I too smelled the same odor; so strong that it made my eyes burn and throat itch after a few minutes. There was no smell of those fumes in the Lavs but did exist also by door 3 left. At that time I personally decided that we needed to turn around and head back as it was not subsiding but actually getting worse and we could find no source. Back on the flight deck I told my First Officer of my decision and he wholeheartedly agreed and we told the Purser to suspend all services and to clean up for a landing in 40 minutes.I turned the aircraft control over to the First Office and attempted twice to raise and get a return clearance from Oceanic on SatCom but their phone just kept ringing with no answer which was very disturbing as this happened to me once before 5 years ago. I then went over to HF and contacted [commercial radio] and declared an emergency advising them we were turning back to [departure airport] on the Alpha track with a 15 mile offset to the north and descending to 33;500 FT...we also advised Dispatch and made a call on 123.45 to advise all aircraft in the area squawking 7700 and turning on all of our exterior lights. We received our clearance 5 minutes later on HF and proceeded to [departure airport]...The fumes/odor persisted until we descended to 10;000 FT and then subsided according to the Flight Attendant at door 3 right. We did land 25;000 LBS over weight as we were task saturated and looked up the numbers to find we would only need a runway length of 8;100 FT so we did not dump fuel. The 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.

Attributes
ACN	976567
Time
Date	201110
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 16000 Flight Crew Type 4200
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 3000 Flight Crew Type 800
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

A B777 flight crew on an oceanic flight reported a flight attendant called saying they had a strong burning rubber smell in the cabin. Their return to departure airport was complicated by difficulty reaching ATC on satcom.