Narrative:

During the preflight of the aircraft I; noticed that earlier in the day this aircraft was written up for smoke coming from the aft coffeemakers and that maintenance had replaced both of the aft coffeemakers and had returned the aircraft to service. The aircraft had flown several legs since the write-up. We flew from jax to our next city without any problems; and then departed. After about 2 hours into the flight over the flight attendants called and reported a strong odor in the aft galley and that smoke was coming out from around the vent areas of the aft coffeemakers. They also said that only one of the aft coffeemakers was ever used and that the one that was not used had never been turned on. We performed the QRH immediate actions items and then completed the QRH. The gasper fan; recirc fan; galley power switch were turned off and the coffeemaker circuit breakerss were pulled. This stopped the smoke and smell in the aft galley. An emergency was declared and we started our divert. I called back to the flight attendants to notify them that we were diverting and they informed me that even though the coffeemakers were turned off with the circuit breakers pulled; that both coffeemakers were extremely hot. (Too hot to even touch.) we landed and the fire department met the aircraft and using an ir device confirmed that both coffeemakers were extremely hot. The passengers were deplaned. Maintenance met the aircraft and I made a maintenance write-up. Dispatch was notified. The chief pilot on call was also notified. We received a new aircraft and departed about one hour and thirty minutes later. This is everything that happened correctly. I am submitting this report because of our inability to communicate with each other pilot to pilot and with the cabin crew. As soon as the flight attendants alerted us to the smoke and fumes in the aft galley; we did the QRH immediate actions and then attempted to complete the checklist. It ended up that I was doing the checklist and communicating with ATC while the other pilot was completely out of the loop flying the aircraft. It was also almost impossible to communicate with the cabin crew with the mask on. I think that maybe we should have some kind of option to after the QRH is complete and the smoke and fumes have been eliminated to allow one pilot (the pilot monitoring) to remove their O2 mask for communication task with the cabin crew and to clearly communicate with the other pilot all their intentions and the status of the checklist. Also; to complete all additional landing task - ATIS; operations; descent checklist and before landing checklist - that have to be completed in an expedited manner. Also on a personal note; I wear glasses. In the sterile arena of the training center; it is very easy to dawn the mask and the smoke goggles as necessary. In the heat of the battle; while trying to see to run the checklist with the O2 mask on is very difficult.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 flight crew enroute was notified of a strong odor and smoke in the aft galley near the coffee makers by the flight attendants. They performed the QRH items; declared an emergency and diverted to a nearby airport.

Narrative: During the preflight of the aircraft I; noticed that earlier in the day this aircraft was written up for smoke coming from the aft coffeemakers and that maintenance had replaced both of the aft coffeemakers and had returned the aircraft to service. The aircraft had flown several legs since the write-up. We flew from JAX to our next city without any problems; and then departed. After about 2 hours into the flight over the flight attendants called and reported a strong odor in the aft galley and that smoke was coming out from around the vent areas of the aft coffeemakers. They also said that only one of the aft coffeemakers was ever used and that the one that was not used had never been turned on. We performed the QRH immediate actions items and then completed the QRH. The gasper fan; recirc fan; galley power switch were turned off and the coffeemaker circuit breakerss were pulled. This stopped the smoke and smell in the aft galley. An emergency was declared and we started our divert. I called back to the flight attendants to notify them that we were diverting and they informed me that even though the coffeemakers were turned off with the circuit breakers pulled; that both coffeemakers were extremely hot. (Too hot to even touch.) We landed and the Fire Department met the aircraft and using an IR device confirmed that both coffeemakers were extremely hot. The passengers were deplaned. Maintenance met the aircraft and I made a maintenance write-up. Dispatch was notified. The Chief Pilot on Call was also notified. We received a new aircraft and departed about one hour and thirty minutes later. This is everything that happened correctly. I am submitting this report because of our inability to communicate with each other Pilot to Pilot and with the cabin crew. As soon as the Flight Attendants alerted us to the smoke and fumes in the aft galley; we did the QRH immediate actions and then attempted to complete the checklist. It ended up that I was doing the checklist and communicating with ATC while the other pilot was completely out of the loop flying the aircraft. It was also almost impossible to communicate with the cabin crew with the mask on. I think that maybe we should have some kind of option to after the QRH is complete and the smoke and fumes have been eliminated to allow one pilot (the pilot monitoring) to remove their O2 mask for communication task with the cabin crew and to clearly communicate with the other pilot all their intentions and the status of the checklist. Also; to complete all additional landing task - ATIS; operations; descent checklist and before landing checklist - that have to be completed in an expedited manner. Also on a personal note; I wear glasses. In the sterile arena of the training center; it is very easy to dawn the mask and the smoke goggles as necessary. In the heat of the battle; while trying to see to run the checklist with the O2 mask on is very difficult.

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.