A B767 on climb out at 17000 ft declared an emergency and diverted due to fumes of burning paper caused by a failed forward equipment exhaust fan.

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Attributes
ACN	485924
Time
Date	200009
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : lax.airport
State Reference	CA
Altitude	msl single value : 17000
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zla.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	climbout : vacating altitude
Route In Use	departure sid : loop departure
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	485924
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical other anomaly other anomaly other
Independent Detector	aircraft equipment other aircraft equipment : eicas warning other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance flight crew : diverted to another airport flight crew : declared emergency
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Aircraft
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

Departing lax on loop departure climbing through 17000 ft noticed smell of burning paper. Soon noticed by all crew and passenger. EICAS status cue displayed. EICAS status message forward equipment exhaust fan. This was enough for me. Decided to return to lax. Declared emergency, briefed flight attendants and passenger. Descending right turn to ILS runway 25R at lax. I was the PF. First officer was new in B767 and with company. Burning smell abated quickly, but never went totally away. No smoke was visible. I considered several different emergency checklists, but felt our efforts were better spent on normal checklists and traffic watch as we were close in to the airport. Any checklist we started would not have been complete prior to landing. We were busy. First officer's low experience added to my workload. Any additional checklist would have buried him and totally taken him out of the loop. We landed smoothly, overweight at 314000 pounds. Met by arff. Taxied direct to gate. Maintenance placarded the forward equipment exhaust fan and we departed for jfk.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767 ON CLBOUT AT 17000 FT DECLARED AN EMER AND DIVERTED DUE TO FUMES OF BURNING PAPER CAUSED BY A FAILED FORWARD EQUIP EXHAUST FAN.

Narrative: DEPARTING LAX ON LOOP DEP CLBING THROUGH 17000 FT NOTICED SMELL OF BURNING PAPER. SOON NOTICED BY ALL CREW AND PAX. EICAS STATUS CUE DISPLAYED. EICAS STATUS MESSAGE FORWARD EQUIP EXHAUST FAN. THIS WAS ENOUGH FOR ME. DECIDED TO RETURN TO LAX. DECLARED EMER, BRIEFED FLT ATTENDANTS AND PAX. DSNDING R TURN TO ILS RWY 25R AT LAX. I WAS THE PF. FO WAS NEW IN B767 AND WITH COMPANY. BURNING SMELL ABATED QUICKLY, BUT NEVER WENT TOTALLY AWAY. NO SMOKE WAS VISIBLE. I CONSIDERED SEVERAL DIFFERENT EMER CHKLISTS, BUT FELT OUR EFFORTS WERE BETTER SPENT ON NORMAL CHKLISTS AND TFC WATCH AS WE WERE CLOSE IN TO THE ARPT. ANY CHKLIST WE STARTED WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN COMPLETE PRIOR TO LNDG. WE WERE BUSY. FO'S LOW EXPERIENCE ADDED TO MY WORKLOAD. ANY ADDITIONAL CHKLIST WOULD HAVE BURIED HIM AND TOTALLY TAKEN HIM OUT OF THE LOOP. WE LANDED SMOOTHLY, OVERWT AT 314000 LBS. MET BY ARFF. TAXIED DIRECT TO GATE. MAINT PLACARDED THE FORWARD EQUIP EXHAUST FAN AND WE DEPARTED FOR JFK.

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.