Shortly after takeoff an MD80 flight crew and flight attendants detected an acrid burning rubber odo...

Narrative:

On climbout we smelled an acrid burning rubber smell. I contacted the flight attendants and they were smelling it also. We continued the climb looking at possible malfunctions and warning lights; no abnormal indications were noted. Flight attendants called back and stated that the smell was getting worse; at this point we declared the emergency and requested radar vectors to runway 18R. We ran the QRH procedure; coordinated with ATC for airport rescue and fire fighters and company notification and provided the necessary details to ATC regarding 141 sob and 14;000 pounds fuel on board. We were handed off to tower cleared for the visual 18R approach and were in direct contact with 'command' the airport rescue and fire fighters (arff) unit. On the downwind leg to the airport the smell had subsided and we advised command of our status. Approach; landing and rollout were uneventful. Arff looked us over; no heat signatures noted and we proceeded to the gate where we terminated the emergency. Particularly noteworthy was the effort of first officer who flew a perfect approach and landing; the quickness of the arff to respond and the expeditious handling by departure and approach control and tower. The heat detector worked extremely well and is a great feature to have. Also the flight attendants were helpful in providing updates to the cabin condition.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Shortly after takeoff an MD80 flight crew and flight attendants detected an acrid burning rubber odor; so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure where Airport Rescue and Fire Fighters detected no heat spots.

Narrative: On climbout we smelled an acrid burning rubber smell. I contacted the flight attendants and they were smelling it also. We continued the climb looking at possible malfunctions and warning lights; no abnormal indications were noted. Flight attendants called back and stated that the smell was getting worse; at this point we declared the emergency and requested radar vectors to Runway 18R. We ran the QRH procedure; coordinated with ATC for Airport Rescue and Fire Fighters and Company notification and provided the necessary details to ATC regarding 141 SOB and 14;000 LBS fuel on board. We were handed off to Tower cleared for the visual 18R approach and were in direct contact with 'Command' the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighters (ARFF) unit. On the downwind leg to the airport the smell had subsided and we advised Command of our status. Approach; landing and rollout were uneventful. ARFF looked us over; no heat signatures noted and we proceeded to the gate where we terminated the emergency. Particularly noteworthy was the effort of First Officer who flew a perfect approach and landing; the quickness of the ARFF to respond and the expeditious handling by Departure and Approach Control and Tower. The heat detector worked extremely well and is a great feature to have. Also the flight attendants were helpful in providing updates to the cabin condition.

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	1095811
Time
Date	201306
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Shortly after takeoff an MD80 flight crew and flight attendants detected an acrid burning rubber odor; so an emergency was declared and the flight returned to the departure where airport rescue and fire fighters detected no heat spots.