A300 flight crew declared an emergency and returned to their departure airport.

Attributes
ACN	427182
Time
Date	199901
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : jfk
State Reference	NY
Altitude	msl bound lower : 500 msl bound upper : 500
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	A300
Flight Phase	other other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
ASRS Report	427182
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	flight crew : declared emergency other
Consequence	Other

Narrative:

Air interrupt after takeoff due to smoke alarm. Right after takeoff all cabin lavatory smoke alarms started to sound followed by the first flight attendant reporting a burning plastic smell throughout the cabin. An emergency return to jfk was performed followed by an overweight landing. Touchdown was smooth with vertical speed at 300 FPM. Emergency vehicles and fire trucks were on standby and inspected exterior of aircraft and found to be normal. Returned to gate and deplaned passenger. Aircraft was taken OTS.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A300 FLC DECLARED AN EMER AND RETURNED TO THEIR DEP ARPT.

Narrative: AIR INTERRUPT AFTER TKOF DUE TO SMOKE ALARM. RIGHT AFTER TKOF ALL CABIN LAVATORY SMOKE ALARMS STARTED TO SOUND FOLLOWED BY THE FIRST FLT ATTENDANT RPTING A BURNING PLASTIC SMELL THROUGHOUT THE CABIN. AN EMER RETURN TO JFK WAS PERFORMED FOLLOWED BY AN OVERWT LNDG. TOUCHDOWN WAS SMOOTH WITH VERT SPD AT 300 FPM. EMER VEHICLES AND FIRE TRUCKS WERE ON STANDBY AND INSPECTED EXTERIOR OF ACFT AND FOUND TO BE NORMAL. RETURNED TO GATE AND DEPLANED PAX. ACFT WAS TAKEN OTS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.