Narrative:

Uneventful and normal flight until about 15 northeast of our destination. Descending to 5000ft the lead flight attendant called cockpit to report that a deadheading captain for another carrier smelled an electrical burning odor coming from a psu or eyeball vents. With the lead flight attendant still on the phone and as the first officer was communicating the issue to me; the lead flight attendant stated she now smelled the odor and the cabin was getting 'hazy'. He told the lead flight attendant approximately 5 minutes to the airport; no evacuation planned at this time and to keep us updated. We had no indications (smell or sight) of odor or smoke in the cockpit throughout the event and no ecams. I called for the first officer to declare an emergency; have crash fire rescue equipment standing by; request direct to the airport; and start the cabin smoke procedure. We donned O2 masks. We were cleared direct to the outer marker. After donning O2 masks and establishing communication it was soon evident that because we were so close we just needed to land as soon as possible; (approaching 10 miles). The lead flight attendant called again to provide an update that smoke and odor was dissipating prior to landing. Approach and landing were normal with smoke and odor dissipating by 2000ft. We elected to stop on the runway set parking brake and called all flight attendant locations. I then called the lead flight attendant to ensure that there was indeed no smoke or odor and she confirmed there was none. I then spoke to crash fire rescue equipment to see if they could see any smoke or fire. There was none. I called; 'remain seated; remain seated' and cleared the runway. We taxied normally to the gate with crash fire rescue equipment following. I then made a PA thanking the passengers for their cooperation and reassuring them everything was ok and that we would deplane normally at the gate. We sent a message to dispatch and talked to operations letting them know we were on the ground safe and sound. After parking we proceeded with a debrief with dispatch; maintenance control; the chief pilot; and the flight attendant's. We wrote up the issue in the aircraft logbook and maintenance proceeded to troubleshoot the aircraft. After about 1 hour maintenance found no issues with the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Lead Flight Attendant aboard an A319 reported an electrical odor and 'haze' emanating from the passenger eyeball vents or PSUs. Flight is met by CFR on ground by which time the problem had abated.

Narrative: Uneventful and normal flight until about 15 NE of our destination. Descending to 5000ft the Lead Flight Attendant called cockpit to report that a deadheading captain for another carrier smelled an electrical burning odor coming from A PSU or eyeball vents. With the Lead Flight Attendant still on the phone and as the First Officer was communicating the issue to me; the Lead Flight Attendant stated she now smelled the odor and the cabin was getting 'hazy'. He told the Lead Flight Attendant approximately 5 minutes to the airport; no evacuation planned at this time and to keep us updated. We had no indications (smell or sight) of odor or smoke in the cockpit throughout the event and no ECAMs. I called for the First Officer to declare an emergency; have CFR standing by; request direct to the airport; and start the Cabin Smoke procedure. We donned O2 masks. We were cleared direct to the outer marker. After donning O2 masks and establishing communication it was soon evident that because we were so close we just needed to land as soon as possible; (approaching 10 miles). The Lead Flight Attendant called again to provide an update that smoke and odor was dissipating prior to landing. Approach and Landing were normal with smoke and odor dissipating by 2000ft. We elected to stop on the runway set parking brake and called all flight attendant locations. I then called the Lead Flight Attendant to ensure that there was indeed no smoke or odor and she confirmed there was none. I then spoke to CFR to see if they could see any smoke or fire. There was none. I called; 'Remain Seated; Remain Seated' and cleared the runway. We taxied normally to the gate with CFR following. I then made a PA thanking the passengers for their cooperation and reassuring them everything was ok and that we would deplane normally at the gate. We sent a message to Dispatch and talked to operations letting them know we were on the ground safe and sound. After parking we proceeded with a debrief with Dispatch; Maintenance Control; the Chief Pilot; and the flight attendant's. We wrote up the issue in the aircraft logbook and Maintenance proceeded to troubleshoot the aircraft. After about 1 hour maintenance found no issues with the aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.