Narrative:

After a normal taxi and takeoff; while climbing through FL180; the flight attendants called to report a burning smell around row 20. They reported that the smell was stronger than they had experienced in the past but reported no smoke. I was going to go on break soon; so the captain sent me to the cabin to assess the situation. Around row 18; I started noticing a strong electrical burning smell. One of the passengers reported seeing a flash above row 18 right before the smell started. I returned to the forward galley to talk to the captain using the inter-phone. While telling him what I had observed; I thought it looked hazy in the back. I asked the purser if he thought it looked hazy and he said 'it does look a little hazy.' I informed the captain that we observed some haze and that I wanted to take one more look. I wasn't able to gather new information; so I went back up to the flight deck. We all discussed it and the decision was made to return to ZZZZ. While the flying first officer started the divert back to ZZZZ; the captain directed me to finish the smoke; fire or fumes checklist. He said he had completed the first 5 steps; so I reviewed the first 5 steps to ensure they had been done. We discussed the issue of oxygen masks but decided it would have been a larger threat to communication by donning them; with no evidence of smoke in the cockpit; than not donning them. After finishing the smoke fire or fumes checklist; the captain directed me to accomplish the overweight landing checklist as we had decided not to dump fuel. I accomplished that checklist and figured the performance limit weight and required landing distance using the performance tab in the QRH. A few times on the descent we received an right hydraulic system low press and brake source EICAS messages. We determined the right hydraulic system had pressure and appeared to be operating normally and reviewed the brake source QRH even though it ultimately was not needed. Once the non-normal checklists were completed; we gave the flight attendants a briefing and made a PA to the passengers. After completing all remaining checklists; we landed normally in ZZZZ.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 First Officer reported being notified by flight attendants of burning smell in passenger cabin.

Narrative: After a normal taxi and takeoff; while climbing through FL180; the flight attendants called to report a burning smell around row 20. They reported that the smell was stronger than they had experienced in the past but reported no smoke. I was going to go on break soon; so the Captain sent me to the cabin to assess the situation. Around row 18; I started noticing a strong electrical burning smell. One of the passengers reported seeing a flash above row 18 right before the smell started. I returned to the forward galley to talk to the Captain using the inter-phone. While telling him what I had observed; I thought it looked hazy in the back. I asked the Purser if he thought it looked hazy and he said 'It does look a little hazy.' I informed the Captain that we observed some haze and that I wanted to take one more look. I wasn't able to gather new information; so I went back up to the flight deck. We all discussed it and the decision was made to return to ZZZZ. While the Flying First Officer started the divert back to ZZZZ; the Captain directed me to finish the Smoke; Fire or Fumes Checklist. He said he had completed the first 5 steps; so I reviewed the first 5 steps to ensure they had been done. We discussed the issue of oxygen masks but decided it would have been a larger threat to communication by donning them; with no evidence of smoke in the cockpit; than not donning them. After finishing the smoke fire or fumes checklist; the Captain directed me to accomplish the Overweight Landing Checklist as we had decided not to dump fuel. I accomplished that checklist and figured the performance limit weight and required landing distance using the performance tab in the QRH. A few times on the descent we received an R HYD SYS LOW PRESS and BRAKE SOURCE EICAS messages. We determined the right hydraulic system had pressure and appeared to be operating normally and reviewed the BRAKE SOURCE QRH even though it ultimately was not needed. Once the non-normal checklists were completed; we gave the flight attendants a briefing and made a PA to the passengers. After completing all remaining checklists; we landed normally in ZZZZ.

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.