Narrative:

Burning plastic smell in cabin attendant with laptop computers operating. I was not on this flight. It was reported to me by flight attendant's. I agreed to report the incident as I think it could be a significant safety item. Also occurred on thur/mar/03. In both cases, there were a lot of personal laptop computers plugged into the power ports. There was a burning plastic smell prevalent in the cabin attendant on both flts. This involved the same flight number, but different dates on different ships. This occurred only after a period of time with a lot of power ports in use. Could be too much current being used over a period of time. After reading several technical reports on a similar incident that caught on fire a few yrs ago and perished. The current thought is that it was caused by an overloaded entertainment system. The fact that it occurred on two different ships, MD80's, under the same circumstances caused me to write the report. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: I spoke with the captain reporter to find out if he had any further information on these incidents. The reporter said actually, there were two flight attendant's that were present at the time of the incidents. They both reported these events to him and asked him to forward it on to the appropriate party. He said that he thought it should be reported because of the possible similarity between this and the MD11 entertainment system incident. Flight attendant's also said that both flts were completely full at the time and very many passengers were using laptops for a very long period of time. Since then he has learned that their maintenance people have said that they see no problem with the present power ports and the associated wiring. Maintenance also believes that the smell can be attributed to the age of the laptops and the power cords. They said that on older laptops, when the batteries are left in and your using an outside power source, the batteries get very warm and emit an odor. If the power cords are older and have been twisted and folded numerous times, they will draw more current. This results in the cord being heated resulting in emitting an odor. Also, they said when you unplug the power cord the odor would cease.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 CAPT WAS ASKED TO RPT 'BURNING, PLASTIC SMELL' IN CAB WHEN A LARGE NUMBER OF LAPTOP COMPUTER POWER PORTS WERE IN USE. THIS HAPPENED ON REPEATED FLTS AND DIFFERENT ACFT.

Narrative: BURNING PLASTIC SMELL IN CAB WITH LAPTOP COMPUTERS OPERATING. I WAS NOT ON THIS FLT. IT WAS RPTED TO ME BY FA'S. I AGREED TO RPT THE INCIDENT AS I THINK IT COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ITEM. ALSO OCCURRED ON THUR/MAR/03. IN BOTH CASES, THERE WERE A LOT OF PERSONAL LAPTOP COMPUTERS PLUGGED INTO THE POWER PORTS. THERE WAS A BURNING PLASTIC SMELL PREVALENT IN THE CAB ON BOTH FLTS. THIS INVOLVED THE SAME FLT NUMBER, BUT DIFFERENT DATES ON DIFFERENT SHIPS. THIS OCCURRED ONLY AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME WITH A LOT OF POWER PORTS IN USE. COULD BE TOO MUCH CURRENT BEING USED OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. AFTER READING SEVERAL TECHNICAL RPTS ON A SIMILAR INCIDENT THAT CAUGHT ON FIRE A FEW YRS AGO AND PERISHED. THE CURRENT THOUGHT IS THAT IT WAS CAUSED BY AN OVERLOADED ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM. THE FACT THAT IT OCCURRED ON TWO DIFFERENT SHIPS, MD80'S, UNDER THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES CAUSED ME TO WRITE THE RPT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: I SPOKE WITH THE CAPT RPTR TO FIND OUT IF HE HAD ANY FURTHER INFO ON THESE INCIDENTS. THE RPTR SAID ACTUALLY, THERE WERE TWO FA'S THAT WERE PRESENT AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENTS. THEY BOTH RPTED THESE EVENTS TO HIM AND ASKED HIM TO FORWARD IT ON TO THE APPROPRIATE PARTY. HE SAID THAT HE THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE RPTED BECAUSE OF THE POSSIBLE SIMILARITY BTWN THIS AND THE MD11 ENTERTAINMENT SYS INCIDENT. FA'S ALSO SAID THAT BOTH FLTS WERE COMPLETELY FULL AT THE TIME AND VERY MANY PAXS WERE USING LAPTOPS FOR A VERY LONG PERIOD OF TIME. SINCE THEN HE HAS LEARNED THAT THEIR MAINT PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT THEY SEE NO PROB WITH THE PRESENT POWER PORTS AND THE ASSOCIATED WIRING. MAINT ALSO BELIEVES THAT THE SMELL CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE AGE OF THE LAPTOPS AND THE POWER CORDS. THEY SAID THAT ON OLDER LAPTOPS, WHEN THE BATTERIES ARE LEFT IN AND YOUR USING AN OUTSIDE POWER SOURCE, THE BATTERIES GET VERY WARM AND EMIT AN ODOR. IF THE POWER CORDS ARE OLDER AND HAVE BEEN TWISTED AND FOLDED NUMEROUS TIMES, THEY WILL DRAW MORE CURRENT. THIS RESULTS IN THE CORD BEING HEATED RESULTING IN EMITTING AN ODOR. ALSO, THEY SAID WHEN YOU UNPLUG THE POWER CORD THE ODOR WOULD CEASE.

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.