Narrative:

I overheard flight attendant #4 tell the pilots on the interphone that she could not smell the 'smell' at the front of the aircraft. After she hung up; she asked me to follow her to the back and smell what they had been smelling. On the way back she stopped at the exit windows and asked a uniformed jumpseating pilot to assist her. I saw flight attendant #2; in the aft cabin asking passengers to get out of their seats. Flight attendant #2 had an extinguisher in her hand and was communicating with the pilots on the inter phone. The jumpseating pilot began removing cushions and looking for the source of the odor. It was a strong smell of burning rubber. I then returned to the front of the plane; turned off the power ports and retrieved another halon extinguisher from the first class left-hand overhead bin. I went back; only to then hear pilots announce we were diverting. I made a PA to prepare for landing from the aft galley inter phone; stowed the 2 extinguishers under seats; and went up front to prepare my first class cabin. The odor seemed to dissipate after the pilots pulled circuit breakers. We did not evacuate once we landed. Captain; first officer along with flight attendant #4 and flight attendant #2 were professional and skilled at handling this emergency landing. I am very proud to and thankful to have worked with them throughout the incident and the continuing journey.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier aircraft developed an electrical burning smell in the cabin. An emergency was declared followed by a diversion to a nearby airport. After the aircraft's entertainment power ports were turned off the smell dissipated.

Narrative: I overheard Flight Attendant #4 tell the pilots on the interphone that she could not smell the 'smell' at the front of the aircraft. After she hung up; she asked me to follow her to the back and smell what they had been smelling. On the way back she stopped at the exit windows and asked a uniformed jumpseating pilot to assist her. I saw Flight Attendant #2; in the aft cabin asking passengers to get out of their seats. Flight Attendant #2 had an extinguisher in her hand and was communicating with the pilots on the inter phone. The jumpseating pilot began removing cushions and looking for the source of the odor. It was a strong smell of burning rubber. I then returned to the front of the plane; turned off the power ports and retrieved another halon extinguisher from the first class left-hand overhead bin. I went back; only to then hear pilots announce we were diverting. I made a PA to prepare for landing from the aft galley inter phone; stowed the 2 extinguishers under seats; and went up front to prepare my first class cabin. The odor seemed to dissipate after the pilots pulled circuit breakers. We did not evacuate once we landed. Captain; First Officer along with Flight Attendant #4 and Flight Attendant #2 were professional and skilled at handling this emergency landing. I am very proud to and thankful to have worked with them throughout the incident and the continuing journey.

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.