B-737 flight crew reported flight attendant notification of burning odor; smoke and possible fire in...

Narrative:

On takeoff as we were setting power; there was a slight noticeable odor as we pushed the thrust levers up. While I did notice it; it was not particularly concerning to me as I was aware the engine had work done recently and the packs had been off as the aircraft was in mx all night prior to us accepting it. Climbing out of ZZZ prior to flap retraction we received an inter phone call from the rear flight attendant xx_11 xx_16 stating that there was a fire and the cabin had a burning smell that was worsening and there was a little smoke or haziness. My first officer (first officer) confirmed the flight attendant (flight attendant) said there was a fire and I immediately let ATC know that we would need to return to ZZZ as soon as possible. I did not specifically declare an emergency; but I did exercise my emergency authority. We were immediately given vectors for a downwind for 26. We continued to clean up the aircraft and I transferred control and ATC to the first officer and I called the cabin again. I questioned the flight attendant further who then indicated that there was no fire; nothing was hot; but there was an extremely strong odor with a burning like smell. With the urgency slightly reduced; I elected to call mx (maintenance) and ask if the work they did may have created the odor and if it should clear up. Mx indicated the work accomplished should not have created the odor; but that if it cleared up; we would probably be okay as long as we confirmed there was no fire. I again called the cabin and was told the smell was dissipating slightly but was still quite strong. I elected to return to ZZZ. We were vectored for a visual/ILS to rwy xy and landed uneventfully underweight and taxied to the gate. Aarf (airport rescue firefighting) followed us to the gate and met the aircraft. After all pax (passengers) deplaned; aarf went to the aft cabin and confirmed no fire or heat but they did smell the odor. No passengers showed any ill medical effects and all deplaned normally. Nice job by the entire crew!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B-737 flight crew reported Flight Attendant notification of burning odor; smoke and possible fire in the passenger cabin shortly after takeoff. Flight crew executed an uneventful emergency air return.

Narrative: On takeoff as we were setting power; there was a slight noticeable odor as we pushed the thrust levers up. While I did notice it; it was not particularly concerning to me as I was aware the engine had work done recently and the packs had been off as the aircraft was in MX all night prior to us accepting it. Climbing out of ZZZ prior to flap retraction we received an inter phone call from the rear FA XX_11 XX_16 stating that there was a fire and the cabin had a burning smell that was worsening and there was a little smoke or haziness. My FO (First Officer) confirmed the FA (Flight Attendant) said there was a fire and I immediately let ATC know that we would need to return to ZZZ ASAP. I did not specifically declare an emergency; but I did exercise my emergency authority. We were immediately given vectors for a downwind for 26. We continued to clean up the aircraft and I transferred control and ATC to the FO and I called the cabin again. I questioned the FA further who then indicated that there was no fire; nothing was hot; but there was an extremely strong odor with a burning like smell. With the urgency slightly reduced; I elected to call MX (Maintenance) and ask if the work they did may have created the odor and if it should clear up. MX indicated the work accomplished should not have created the odor; but that if it cleared up; we would probably be okay as long as we confirmed there was no fire. I again called the cabin and was told the smell was dissipating slightly but was still quite strong. I elected to return to ZZZ. We were vectored for a visual/ILS to Rwy XY and landed uneventfully underweight and taxied to the gate. AARF (Airport Rescue Firefighting) followed us to the gate and met the aircraft. After all pax (passengers) deplaned; AARF went to the aft cabin and confirmed no fire or heat but they did smell the odor. No passengers showed any ill medical effects and all deplaned normally. Nice job by the entire crew!

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.

Attributes
ACN	1701624
Time
Date	201911
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-900
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 203 Flight Crew Total 14600
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 3600 Flight Crew Type 625
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

B-737 flight crew reported flight attendant notification of burning odor; smoke and possible fire in the passenger cabin shortly after takeoff. Flight crew executed an uneventful emergency air return.