When the aft flight attendants reported haze and smoke and a source could not be determined the capt...

Narrative:

While in cruise; at FL380; flight attendants in the rear of the aircraft called to report a burning smell; haze; and eye and throat irritation. Flight attendants thoroughly searched the area but were unable to determine the source. No indications of smoke or fire appeared on cockpit displays. The flight attendants shut off the in flight entertainment [ife] system and we selected the utility busses off; but these actions had no effect on the smell or haze.due to the uncertainty of the situation we elected to divert to a land at a nearby airport. We declared an emergency and landed uneventfully. The aircraft was not overweight. Arff looked the aircraft over with thermal imaging after landing and continued to investigate after parking at the gate. No evidence of fire or source of smoke were found. The passengers were deplaned via jetbridge through the 1L door and cargo doors were opened after deplaning.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: When the aft flight attendants reported haze and smoke and a source could not be determined the Captain of a B767-300ER elected to divert to a nearby suitable airport. No source or evidence of fire was immediately determined.

Narrative: While in cruise; at FL380; flight attendants in the rear of the aircraft called to report a burning smell; haze; and eye and throat irritation. Flight attendants thoroughly searched the area but were unable to determine the source. No indications of smoke or fire appeared on cockpit displays. The flight attendants shut off the In Flight Entertainment [IFE] system and we selected the utility busses off; but these actions had no effect on the smell or haze.Due to the uncertainty of the situation we elected to divert to a land at a nearby airport. We declared an emergency and landed uneventfully. The aircraft was not overweight. ARFF looked the aircraft over with thermal imaging after landing and continued to investigate after parking at the gate. No evidence of fire or source of smoke were found. The passengers were deplaned via jetbridge through the 1L door and cargo doors were opened after deplaning.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1083566
Time
Date	201304
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-300 and 300 ER
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

When the aft flight attendants reported haze and smoke and a source could not be determined the captain of a B767-300ER elected to divert to a nearby suitable airport. No source or evidence of fire was immediately determined.