Narrative:

Aft purser called reporting the smell of smoke in aft galley. She said that she had this aircraft the week before and the same thing happened and that it was the pigtail at a certain location. She reported that she had pulled that cart and that in fact the pigtail was very hot; but cooling and that the odor was dissipating. She reported that the pigtail was in fact damaged (warped and melted). After the odor was reported as cleared I made an announcement to the aft section of the aircraft only that we had had a minor electrical problem but that it was resolved. 5 mins later the aft purser called again saying that she had moved the cart to a new location and that the smoke had begun again. This time we worked through the aft galley qrc and reference items. Once the smoke cleared another announcement was made and the cart was tagged as bad and write-ups sent via ACARS. 10 mins later aft purser called saying that water was dripping from overhead near the galley circuit breaker location 1. At this point we got dispatch and maintenance involved with the concern that there might have been a wiring overload in the overhead area. I sent one first officer down to investigate by using makeshift tools and a great amount of time to determine what the heat source/water source was. We continued flight with an occasional check of the overhead area. I would suggest that the tsa consider allowing crews to; once again; be allowed to carry tools to access compartments easily during flight.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B747-400 FLT CREW IN INTERNATIONAL AIRSPACE EXPERIENCED SMOKE AND FUMES.

Narrative: AFT PURSER CALLED RPTING THE SMELL OF SMOKE IN AFT GALLEY. SHE SAID THAT SHE HAD THIS ACFT THE WEEK BEFORE AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED AND THAT IT WAS THE PIGTAIL AT A CERTAIN LOCATION. SHE RPTED THAT SHE HAD PULLED THAT CART AND THAT IN FACT THE PIGTAIL WAS VERY HOT; BUT COOLING AND THAT THE ODOR WAS DISSIPATING. SHE RPTED THAT THE PIGTAIL WAS IN FACT DAMAGED (WARPED AND MELTED). AFTER THE ODOR WAS RPTED AS CLRED I MADE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE AFT SECTION OF THE ACFT ONLY THAT WE HAD HAD A MINOR ELECTRICAL PROB BUT THAT IT WAS RESOLVED. 5 MINS LATER THE AFT PURSER CALLED AGAIN SAYING THAT SHE HAD MOVED THE CART TO A NEW LOCATION AND THAT THE SMOKE HAD BEGUN AGAIN. THIS TIME WE WORKED THROUGH THE AFT GALLEY QRC AND REFERENCE ITEMS. ONCE THE SMOKE CLRED ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE AND THE CART WAS TAGGED AS BAD AND WRITE-UPS SENT VIA ACARS. 10 MINS LATER AFT PURSER CALLED SAYING THAT WATER WAS DRIPPING FROM OVERHEAD NEAR THE GALLEY CB LOCATION 1. AT THIS POINT WE GOT DISPATCH AND MAINT INVOLVED WITH THE CONCERN THAT THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A WIRING OVERLOAD IN THE OVERHEAD AREA. I SENT ONE FO DOWN TO INVESTIGATE BY USING MAKESHIFT TOOLS AND A GREAT AMOUNT OF TIME TO DETERMINE WHAT THE HEAT SOURCE/WATER SOURCE WAS. WE CONTINUED FLT WITH AN OCCASIONAL CHK OF THE OVERHEAD AREA. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE TSA CONSIDER ALLOWING CREWS TO; ONCE AGAIN; BE ALLOWED TO CARRY TOOLS TO ACCESS COMPARTMENTS EASILY DURING FLT.

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.