Narrative:

While assisting an aisle chair passenger to use the lavatory at 2L; passenger in row 30ABC notified flight attendant [X] that they smelled fire and that the passenger in 30A saw a cloud of smoke discharge from the vent on the sidewall about 3 inches above the floor near his feet. Flight attendant [X] called me for assistance and a fire extinguisher. She determined that the area around the vent was warm. We both smelled the vent and detected an electrical/plastic burning smell. There was no other heat detected at the wall. We [repositioned] pass riding flight attendant at 30A with a fire extinguisher to monitor the situation. Paxs were advised to unplug all personal electronic devices and monitor for fire as we were not 100% sure of the source of smell. I had [the deadheading] flight attendant turn off the in-seat power supply. Flight attendant [Y] monitored the first class cabin and cockpit area while purser monitored economy galley and aisle chair passenger; he also gave initial reports to captain while I and flight attendant [X] responded to situation. Captain told us we would divert to [nearest suitable airport] and land in 25 minutes. We secured the cabin; purser had passenger review the safety card and brace positions. We landed safely and taxied to the gate. An inflight supervisor met the flight and briefly spoke to the purser. He did not speak to the rest of the crew. The lack of support from the supervisor was unacceptable based on what [flight attendant X] and I had just gone thru being the first responders.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Flight Attendant reported detecting smoke in the cabin coming from a sidewall vent. The flight diverted to the nearest suitable airport.

Narrative: While assisting an aisle chair PAX to use the lavatory at 2L; PAX in row 30ABC notified FA [X] that they smelled fire and that the PAX in 30A saw a cloud of smoke discharge from the vent on the sidewall about 3 inches above the floor near his feet. FA [X] called me for assistance and a fire extinguisher. She determined that the area around the vent was warm. We both smelled the vent and detected an electrical/plastic burning smell. There was no other heat detected at the wall. We [repositioned] pass riding FA at 30A with a fire extinguisher to monitor the situation. PAXs were advised to unplug all personal electronic devices and monitor for fire as we were not 100% sure of the source of smell. I had [the deadheading] FA turn off the in-seat power supply. FA [Y] monitored the first class cabin and cockpit area while Purser monitored Economy galley and Aisle chair PAX; he also gave initial reports to Captain while I and FA [X] responded to situation. Captain told us we would divert to [nearest suitable airport] and land in 25 minutes. We secured the cabin; Purser had PAX review the safety card and brace positions. We landed safely and taxied to the gate. An inflight supervisor met the flight and briefly spoke to the purser. He did not speak to the rest of the crew. The lack of support from the supervisor was unacceptable based on what [FA X] and I had just gone thru being the first responders.

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.