Narrative:

Cruising at FL360; we noticed a burning smell or fumes in the cockpit. Flight attendants called and smelled the same fumes in the cabin. I asked if they had any visible smoke in the cabin and they reported no visible smoke. We had none in the cockpit. The first officer and I donned our oxygen masks; declared an emergency; executed the smoke/fire/fumes checklist; and diverted to ZZZ with emergency equipment standing by. Landing was uneventful emergency equipment saw nothing abnormal and we taxied to the gate and deplaned. Maintenance logbook entry made. I was the pilot monitoring. From the time of the smell of smoke and the donning of the oxygen masks to the time we landed; time becomes a precious commodity. Working the descent; declaring an emergency; and navigating a divert to a destination 35 miles away from FL360; executing a smoke/fumes/fire checklist to control/contain the fumes; programming the FMC; getting weather; choosing a runway and getting landing data; talking to the flight attendants and passengers; there becomes a priority in the order these things happen and the order of communications. All this happens in less than 20 minutes to the ground; which feels like 5 minutes. Dispatch felt left out but I had no time to type an ACARS message. Instead I choose to call ops and have them call dispatch and tell them we were diverting for fumes in the cockpit and to expect us in less than 10 minutes. 'This killed 2 birds with one stone.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-500 flight crew detects a burning smell at FL360 and elects to divert to the nearest suitable airport while descending and performing QRH procedures. Maintenance discovers a burned up TR3.

Narrative: Cruising at FL360; we noticed a burning smell or fumes in the cockpit. Flight attendants called and smelled the same fumes in the cabin. I asked if they had any visible smoke in the cabin and they reported no visible smoke. We had none in the cockpit. The First Officer and I donned our oxygen masks; declared an emergency; executed the Smoke/Fire/Fumes Checklist; and diverted to ZZZ with emergency equipment standing by. Landing was uneventful emergency equipment saw nothing abnormal and we taxied to the gate and deplaned. Maintenance logbook entry made. I was the Pilot Monitoring. From the time of the smell of smoke and the donning of the oxygen masks to the time we landed; time becomes a precious commodity. Working the descent; declaring an emergency; and navigating a divert to a destination 35 miles away from FL360; executing a Smoke/Fumes/Fire Checklist to control/contain the fumes; programming the FMC; getting weather; choosing a runway and getting landing data; talking to the flight attendants and passengers; there becomes a priority in the order these things happen and the order of communications. All this happens in less than 20 minutes to the ground; which feels like 5 minutes. Dispatch felt left out but I had no time to TYPE an ACARS message. Instead I choose to call Ops and have them call Dispatch and tell them we were diverting for fumes in the cockpit and to expect us in less than 10 minutes. 'This killed 2 birds with one stone.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.