Narrative:

Captain was flying; I was pilot monitoring. Flight completed without incident. Pulled into the gate [and] passengers deplaned the aircraft. Captain bid farewell to the passengers as they deplaned and then proceeded to collect his things and leave the aircraft as his duty period had ended and he was being swapped out by another captain. We shook hands from the cockpit as he left. I proceeded to stay on board the aircraft (in the cockpit) and began to set up for the next leg as it was a relatively quick turn and I was now pilot flying. The flight attendants stayed on board the aircraft as well in the main cabin.when the new captain came onboard the aircraft; he asked me if I had either smelled or seen smoke in the main cabin; to which I replied no. I had not been in the main cabin since the aircraft had pulled into the gate. After his questioning; I proceeded to turn around from the cockpit and look down the aisle in the main cabin; and was able to visually see smoke emanating from the rear of the aircraft. It had reached about the last 6 to 7 rows by now. Both flight attendants were seated when I initially looked back. There were no indications in the cockpit in terms of warnings or cautions; nor had any of the fire detectors been set off. At this point [the captain] questioned the flight attendants as to why they had not communicated the smoke to myself or [the previous captain]; to which they responded (but I don't remember what). However; I do remember them saying that they had experienced the smoke condition on takeoff from [departure airport]. I was pilot monitoring and did not receive any communication from them during the entire leg or even postflight; that they had experienced this condition. [The captain] then told the flight attendants to evacuate the aircraft; to which they complied; and I proceeded to contact maintenance on the radios. They came out to the aircraft a few minutes later; determined the issue was with the right pack; and then subsequently deferred it and the flight resumed uneventfully after that.this was all about communications between the cabin and flight crew. There were multiple instances when the flight attendants had an opportunity to communicate the smoke and/or smoke fumes to the flight crew; but did not for reasons I do not know. Suggestion here is that flight attendants should immediately contact the flight crew as soon as any abnormal condition is recognized and not make any assumptions as to whether something is normal or not.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-900 First Officer reported that due to lack of communication with the Flight Attendants; he was unaware of smoke in the cabin.

Narrative: Captain was flying; I was pilot monitoring. Flight completed without incident. Pulled into the gate [and] passengers deplaned the aircraft. Captain bid farewell to the passengers as they deplaned and then proceeded to collect his things and leave the aircraft as his duty period had ended and he was being swapped out by another Captain. We shook hands from the cockpit as he left. I proceeded to stay on board the aircraft (in the cockpit) and began to set up for the next leg as it was a relatively quick turn and I was now pilot flying. The Flight Attendants stayed on board the aircraft as well in the main cabin.When the new Captain came onboard the aircraft; he asked me if I had either smelled or seen smoke in the main cabin; to which I replied no. I had not been in the main cabin since the aircraft had pulled into the gate. After his questioning; I proceeded to turn around from the cockpit and look down the aisle in the main cabin; and was able to visually see smoke emanating from the rear of the aircraft. It had reached about the last 6 to 7 rows by now. Both Flight Attendants were seated when I initially looked back. There were no indications in the cockpit in terms of Warnings or Cautions; nor had any of the fire detectors been set off. At this point [the Captain] questioned the Flight Attendants as to why they had not communicated the smoke to myself or [the previous Captain]; to which they responded (but I don't remember what). However; I do remember them saying that they had experienced the smoke condition on takeoff from [departure airport]. I was pilot monitoring and did not receive any communication from them during the entire leg or even postflight; that they had experienced this condition. [The Captain] then told the Flight Attendants to evacuate the aircraft; to which they complied; and I proceeded to contact Maintenance on the radios. They came out to the aircraft a few minutes later; determined the issue was with the right pack; and then subsequently deferred it and the flight resumed uneventfully after that.This was all about communications between the cabin and flight crew. There were multiple instances when the Flight Attendants had an opportunity to communicate the smoke and/or smoke fumes to the flight crew; but did not for reasons I do not know. Suggestion here is that Flight Attendants should immediately contact the flight crew as soon as any abnormal condition is recognized and not make any assumptions as to whether something is normal or not.

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.