A330 captain and relief first officer reported odor in cabin causing a return to departure airport.

Attributes
ACN	1568089
Time
Date	201808
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A330
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Relief Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

On descent through FL200; flight attendant (flight attendant) reported odor in cabin from fwd galley through row five. First officer (first officer); fb and I smelled it too. The first officer and I thought it smelled like ozone; and we were flying through an area of thunderstorms. However; the fb thought it smelled electrical. We donned oxygen masks and I got out the quick action card (qac); but the flight attendant reported the odor dissipated; so we suspended the procedure and removed our masks. Due to a late clearance for approach from ATC we had to go missed approach and at the same time the flight attendant reported the odor again and stronger than before. We donned oxygen masks and I performed the qac procedure and talked to ATC while the first officer flew the aircraft. We were vectored back around cells for another approach. There was never any smoke visible; just electrical smell which again dissipated after three to four minutes; which is partly why I didn't declare an emergency; but in hindsight I should have anyway. We suspended further procedures after doing the quick action card; but kept our masks on for the approach and landing; which was uneventful. I put the events in the logbook and debriefed maintenance at the gate. First officer and fb performance was exemplary and contributed greatly to a coordinated crew response to a very busy situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A330 Captain and Relief First Officer reported odor in cabin causing a return to departure airport.

Narrative: On descent through FL200; Flight Attendant (FA) reported odor in cabin from FWD galley through row five. First Officer (FO); FB and I smelled it too. The FO and I thought it smelled like ozone; and we were flying through an area of thunderstorms. However; the FB thought it smelled electrical. We donned oxygen masks and I got out the Quick Action Card (QAC); but the FA reported the odor dissipated; so we suspended the procedure and removed our masks. Due to a late clearance for approach from ATC we had to go missed approach and at the same time the FA reported the odor again and stronger than before. We donned oxygen masks and I performed the QAC procedure and talked to ATC while the FO flew the aircraft. We were vectored back around cells for another approach. There was never any smoke visible; just electrical smell which again dissipated after three to four minutes; which is partly why I didn't declare an emergency; but in hindsight I should have anyway. We suspended further procedures after doing the Quick action card; but kept our masks on for the approach and landing; which was uneventful. I put the events in the logbook and debriefed maintenance at the gate. FO and FB performance was exemplary and contributed greatly to a coordinated crew response to a very busy situation.

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.