Narrative:

During approach into iad; the 'a' flight attendant called and informed me that she was smelling a strange odor in the forward area; and I asked if she had any food that may be in the oven. She said the ovens were off. I mentioned that the ovens were written up a few days earlier; as the same complaint was reported and maintenance cleaned the ovens which seemed to have solved the problem. I also suggested to turn the cabin lights off as they may be the cause. The flight attendant called back in a couple of mins indicating that she still smelled the odor and it was only in the forward galley area. All indications were normal in the cockpit and the copilot and I could not smell any odor. The flight attendant called and asked if I could make a PA announcement to ease some first class passenger minds. I made the PA announcement; explaining that all indications were normal and the possible cause of the odor and also that we were landing in a few mins. On the downwind; I selected the status page and noticed a 'standby inverter.' the approach and landing were normal. At the gate; we sent an ACARS message to maintenance and called for a mechanic and briefed him. We also had the flight attendant brief him. As we deplaned he was working on the write-up. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter said maintenance has not reported the maintenance action taken on the second report of the odor. Callback conversation with reporter acn 645041 revealed the following information: neither the captain nor I smelled the galley odor reported by the cabin attendant. No report has been received from maintenance on the findings.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 ON APCH HAS CALL FROM CABIN ATTENDANT RPTING A STRANGE ODOR IN THE FORWARD GALLEY. NO ACTION TAKEN DURING APCH.

Narrative: DURING APCH INTO IAD; THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT CALLED AND INFORMED ME THAT SHE WAS SMELLING A STRANGE ODOR IN THE FORWARD AREA; AND I ASKED IF SHE HAD ANY FOOD THAT MAY BE IN THE OVEN. SHE SAID THE OVENS WERE OFF. I MENTIONED THAT THE OVENS WERE WRITTEN UP A FEW DAYS EARLIER; AS THE SAME COMPLAINT WAS RPTED AND MAINT CLEANED THE OVENS WHICH SEEMED TO HAVE SOLVED THE PROB. I ALSO SUGGESTED TO TURN THE CABIN LIGHTS OFF AS THEY MAY BE THE CAUSE. THE FLT ATTENDANT CALLED BACK IN A COUPLE OF MINS INDICATING THAT SHE STILL SMELLED THE ODOR AND IT WAS ONLY IN THE FORWARD GALLEY AREA. ALL INDICATIONS WERE NORMAL IN THE COCKPIT AND THE COPLT AND I COULD NOT SMELL ANY ODOR. THE FLT ATTENDANT CALLED AND ASKED IF I COULD MAKE A PA ANNOUNCEMENT TO EASE SOME FIRST CLASS PAX MINDS. I MADE THE PA ANNOUNCEMENT; EXPLAINING THAT ALL INDICATIONS WERE NORMAL AND THE POSSIBLE CAUSE OF THE ODOR AND ALSO THAT WE WERE LNDG IN A FEW MINS. ON THE DOWNWIND; I SELECTED THE STATUS PAGE AND NOTICED A 'STANDBY INVERTER.' THE APCH AND LNDG WERE NORMAL. AT THE GATE; WE SENT AN ACARS MESSAGE TO MAINT AND CALLED FOR A MECH AND BRIEFED HIM. WE ALSO HAD THE FLT ATTENDANT BRIEF HIM. AS WE DEPLANED HE WAS WORKING ON THE WRITE-UP. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR SAID MAINT HAS NOT RPTED THE MAINT ACTION TAKEN ON THE SECOND RPT OF THE ODOR. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR ACN 645041 REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: NEITHER THE CAPT NOR I SMELLED THE GALLEY ODOR RPTED BY THE CABIN ATTENDANT. NO RPT HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM MAINT ON THE FINDINGS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.