Dhc-8 flight crew reports strong electrical fumes at 10;000 ft 25 miles from their destination. Proc...

Narrative:

While inbound about 25 miles from the field we started to smell burning electronics. My first officer was the first to say something and asked if I smelled something and of course I said yes. It was apparent that something was burning. The smell rapidly got worse. At that time I gave the order to suit up and communicate. After that drill was completed I asked for the smoke unknown source checklist. There was no sign of smoke at the time; just a strong noxious odor. As the first officer was getting out the checklist I declared an emergency. Due to the rapid increase of odor I was convinced that something was burning. At this time we ran the checklist. After completing the list we had no recirc fan; bleeds; dc gens; AC gens or batteries. It was VMC and the field was in sight. The flight attendant was briefed and told we were very close and to prepare for an immediate landing. I partially took off my mask to see if the smell had gone away. It was strong and harsh smelling. I replaced my mask. Then the flight attendant called and informed us that the cabin was ready for landing. The landing was normal. As I started to brake we were close to A2 taxiway so I turned off stopped and set the parking brake. At this time I had taken off my mask to evaluate the smell to see if was any better. It was not. I then shut down the aircraft and told tower that we were going to evacuate. The passengers were evacuated out the front air stair door. I asked the first officer to go out and keep all the passengers in the same area and together. The flight attendant followed the last passenger off and kept them together. The fire company determined that nothing was burning at that time. Due to the nature of the emergency I am not aware at this time as to what caused the burning smell.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DHC-8 flight crew reports strong electrical fumes at 10;000 FT 25 miles from their destination. Procedures were complied with and an emergency was declared. After landing the fumes were still strong and the passengers evacuated using the airstair.

Narrative: While inbound about 25 miles from the field we started to smell burning electronics. My First Officer was the first to say something and asked if I smelled something and of course I said yes. It was apparent that something was burning. The smell rapidly got worse. At that time I gave the order to suit up and communicate. After that drill was completed I asked for the smoke unknown source checklist. There was no sign of smoke at the time; just a strong noxious odor. As the First Officer was getting out the checklist I declared an emergency. Due to the rapid increase of odor I was convinced that something was burning. At this time we ran the checklist. After completing the list we had no recirc fan; bleeds; DC gens; AC gens or batteries. It was VMC and the field was in sight. The Flight Attendant was briefed and told we were very close and to prepare for an Immediate landing. I partially took off my mask to see if the smell had gone away. It was strong and harsh smelling. I replaced my mask. Then the Flight Attendant called and informed us that the cabin was ready for landing. The landing was normal. As I started to brake we were close to A2 Taxiway so I turned off stopped and set the parking brake. At this time I had taken off my mask to evaluate the smell to see if was any better. It was not. I then shut down the aircraft and told tower that we were going to evacuate. The passengers were evacuated out the front air stair door. I asked the First Officer to go out and keep all the passengers in the same area and together. The Flight Attendant followed the last passenger off and kept them together. The fire company determined that nothing was burning at that time. Due to the nature of the emergency I am not aware at this time as to what caused the burning smell.

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.

Attributes
ACN	842396
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Dash 8-100
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Total 1500 Flight Crew Type 1300
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Dhc-8 flight crew reports strong electrical fumes at 10;000 ft 25 miles from their destination. Procedures were complied with and an emergency was declared. After landing the fumes were still strong and the passengers evacuated using the airstair.