Narrative:

Prior to the event we swapped aircraft because our original one had a maintenance issue. It had been sitting on the maintenance pad and was warm because it was first flight of the day. We started the APU to cool down the cabin; and then they boarded the passengers. The number 2 flight attendant advised me that there was a loud noise throughout the cabin; but especially row 18; 13 and 7. We were still at the gate so I had maintenance come on board and they deplaned the passengers to work on the duct work. There was disconnected ducting through the aircraft and they fixed it with duct tape and some kind of super glue adhesive. They then signed the book off and operations loaded the passengers back up and we departed.we were climbing through FL300 on our way to FL370 when the number 2 flight attendant called up with shortness of breath. She said that she would call back to see if it went away. We leveled off immediately at FL330 as a precaution; and then called the number one flight attendant. She said that she had shortness of breath and that passengers weren't in distress and that there were fumes in the cabin. I advised the flight attendants that we were going to make an emergency descent into airport ZZZ and that that they needed to apply emergency procedures. Also that we were going to evacuate through the forward cabin door once clear of the runway. We applied the fumes in cabin QRH; put on oxygen masks; and advised ATC that we needed an emergency descent into ZZZ which was right below us. We requested crash fire rescue equipment; advised ATC of all pertinent information. It was VMC; and we received vectors to ZZZ using runway xyr. We knew it was going to be an overweight landing; and applied procedures for that. We had a 300 feet per min descent over the fence and landed at the 200 feet mark on the runway with a 0 feet per min descent. It was a smooth landing and we exited the runway to the right and parked in front of crash fire rescue equipment. I made the PA for an emergency evacuation through the front passenger door. We also opened the front service door for air ventilation. I opened the cockpit door to help with the evacuation; and the fumes were noticeable. Passengers were calm; and were given first responder attention then bussed to the terminal and rebooked. One passenger was transported to the hospital for inhalation. The aircraft was then towed 2 hours later with me and the first officer using oxygen masks and the APU running with packs off to terminal so passengers could get their personal belongings. There was no one in ZZZ with crj experience to ride the brakes. We didn't want to inconvenience the passengers more than they were already.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ700 flight crew and the Dispatcher involved describe a diversion due to fumes in the cabin. Prior to departure Maintenance had made repairs to air conditioning duct work using 'some kind of super glue'; which may have been the source of the fumes.

Narrative: Prior to the event we swapped aircraft because our original one had a maintenance issue. It had been sitting on the maintenance pad and was warm because it was first flight of the day. We started the APU to cool down the cabin; and then they boarded the passengers. The number 2 flight attendant advised me that there was a loud noise throughout the cabin; but especially row 18; 13 and 7. We were still at the gate so I had maintenance come on board and they deplaned the passengers to work on the duct work. There was disconnected ducting through the aircraft and they fixed it with duct tape and some kind of super glue adhesive. They then signed the book off and operations loaded the passengers back up and we departed.We were climbing through FL300 on our way to FL370 when the number 2 flight attendant called up with shortness of breath. She said that she would call back to see if it went away. We leveled off immediately at FL330 as a precaution; and then called the number one flight attendant. She said that she had shortness of breath and that passengers weren't in distress and that there were fumes in the cabin. I advised the flight attendants that we were going to make an emergency descent into Airport ZZZ and that that they needed to apply emergency procedures. Also that we were going to evacuate through the forward cabin door once clear of the runway. We applied the fumes in cabin QRH; put on oxygen masks; and advised ATC that we needed an emergency descent into ZZZ which was right below us. We requested CFR; advised ATC of all pertinent information. It was VMC; and we received vectors to ZZZ using runway XYR. We knew it was going to be an overweight landing; and applied procedures for that. We had a 300 feet per min descent over the fence and landed at the 200 feet mark on the runway with a 0 feet per min descent. It was a smooth landing and we exited the runway to the right and parked in front of CFR. I made the PA for an emergency evacuation through the front passenger door. We also opened the front service door for air ventilation. I opened the cockpit door to help with the evacuation; and the fumes were noticeable. Passengers were calm; and were given first responder attention then bussed to the terminal and rebooked. One passenger was transported to the hospital for inhalation. The aircraft was then towed 2 hours later with me and the First Officer using oxygen masks and the APU running with packs off to terminal so passengers could get their personal belongings. There was no one in ZZZ with CRJ experience to ride the brakes. We didn't want to inconvenience the passengers more than they were already.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.