Narrative:

At the same moment; the first officer and I looked at each other and said 'you smell something' we were trying to identify the smell and source when a flight attendant called to see if we needed anything. I needed a break so she came into the cockpit and mentioned the odor. She said it was bad; but we thought it was dissipating. I showed her where the observer mask was if she wanted it. I went to the lavatory and heard them yelling to the flight attendant guarding the door to send me back to the cockpit. When the door opened I looked in and was overwhelmed with the odor and saw smoke for the first time; coming from my rudder pedal area. I told the flight attendant to get the relief pilot into the cockpit. First officer and I donned our masks and goggles and almost immediately took the goggles off and placed them on our foreheads since our vision was better without them; our eyes weren't bothered; and the goggles were so cumbersome. While we tried to establish crew communication the relief pilot arrived. While we all wasted time fumbling with audio panels I grabbed the checklist card; handed it to the relief pilot; took off my mask and yelled 'smoke and fumes QRH'. I declared an emergency and said we were proceeding direct to the closest airport while the first officer turned. During the remainder of the flight; we were hindered by the process of communicating. Repeated transmissions were made to the wrong person by all three pilots wasting valuable time. Approach and landing were normal. Tower reported no visible sign of smoke or fire during the rollout; we could see multiple air stair trucks along with the fire trucks lining our intended high speed exit. We discussed the possibility of air stairs instead of slides for evacuation and I made the decision to use air stairs. While slowing to a stop along side the fire trucks; the relief pilot made a PA to 'remain seated.' unfortunately the wrong microphone switch was selected and the passengers did not hear it. I also made a PA to say that we would exit via air stairs; but I believe the PA had failed since I didn't hear it. Relief pilot then opened the door and yelled to the flight attendant's that the stairs were coming. When I stopped the aircraft the first officer shut down the engines and we ran the evacuation QRH. By the time I left the cockpit; first and most of business were empty. A flight attendant was directing at 1L and relief pilot was at 1R. The left aisle was blocked by a passenger opening an overhead bin. I yelled 'leave your stuff and get off the plane'. The flight attendant immediately realized that this was still an evacuation (except with stairs; not slides) picked up the microphone and made a PA to that affect. Her PA did work. I went to 1R to send relief pilot outside to take charge of the passengers but saw that operations and firemen were directing them to buses. I made a cabin sweep and found it empty. As I got back to the front the fire chief was arriving and we began trying to determine the location of the smoke. After the evacuation; my biggest problem was once again communication. I don't have an international cell phone. I had to arrange to get the plane to be towed to the gate; get the flight attendant's on board and then let passengers on to get belongings. Dispatch called and told me that pilots and flight attendants were being flown in with a good airplane and to let him know what time we wanted to depart. He also had dinner arranged. I called back later and arranged a departure time assuming we would ferry the broken plane home. We found out in the morning that we were flying the passenger flight. Fortunately the flight was uneventful. As I write this report I realize that I am still not ready to fly; have taken myself off my next trip and had no business working home. Our flight attendant's deadheaded home as we should have. My main concerns: 1. Mask & goggle communications in cockpit need improvement 2. Lackof communication ability on ground. Possibly an international cell phone assigned to international flights with programmed numbers. 3. Lack of support from company after landing. A 'one stop shopping' contact (like dispatch on a flight) needs to be assigned to the event.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767 flight crew report on a diversion from the North Atlantic Tracks for smoke of unknown origin.

Narrative: At the same moment; the First Officer and I looked at each other and said 'You smell something' we were trying to identify the smell and source when a Flight Attendant called to see if we needed anything. I needed a break so she came into the cockpit and mentioned the odor. She said it was bad; but we thought it was dissipating. I showed her where the observer mask was if she wanted it. I went to the lavatory and heard them yelling to the Flight Attendant guarding the door to send me back to the cockpit. When the door opened I looked in and was overwhelmed with the odor and saw smoke for the first time; coming from my rudder pedal area. I told the Flight Attendant to get the Relief Pilot into the cockpit. First Officer and I donned our masks and goggles and almost immediately took the goggles off and placed them on our foreheads since our vision was better without them; our eyes weren't bothered; and the goggles were so cumbersome. While we tried to establish crew communication the Relief Pilot arrived. While we all wasted time fumbling with audio panels I grabbed the checklist card; handed it to the Relief Pilot; took off my mask and yelled 'Smoke and Fumes QRH'. I declared an emergency and said we were proceeding direct to the closest airport while the First Officer turned. During the remainder of the flight; we were hindered by the process of communicating. Repeated transmissions were made to the wrong person by all three pilots wasting valuable time. Approach and landing were normal. Tower reported no visible sign of smoke or fire during the rollout; we could see multiple air stair trucks along with the fire trucks lining our intended high speed exit. We discussed the possibility of air stairs instead of slides for evacuation and I made the decision to use air stairs. While slowing to a stop along side the fire trucks; the Relief Pilot made a PA to 'Remain seated.' Unfortunately the wrong microphone switch was selected and the passengers did not hear it. I also made a PA to say that we would exit via air stairs; but I believe the PA had failed since I didn't hear it. Relief Pilot then opened the door and yelled to the Flight Attendant's that the stairs were coming. When I stopped the aircraft the First Officer shut down the engines and we ran the Evacuation QRH. By the time I left the cockpit; First and most of Business were empty. A Flight Attendant was directing at 1L and Relief Pilot was at 1R. The left aisle was blocked by a passenger opening an overhead bin. I yelled 'Leave your stuff and get off the plane'. The Flight Attendant immediately realized that this was still an evacuation (except with stairs; not slides) picked up the microphone and made a PA to that affect. Her PA did work. I went to 1R to send Relief Pilot outside to take charge of the passengers but saw that operations and firemen were directing them to buses. I made a cabin sweep and found it empty. As I got back to the front the fire chief was arriving and we began trying to determine the location of the smoke. After the evacuation; my biggest problem was once again communication. I don't have an international cell phone. I had to arrange to get the plane to be towed to the gate; get the Flight Attendant's on board and then let passengers on to get belongings. Dispatch called and told me that pilots and flight attendants were being flown in with a good airplane and to let him know what time we wanted to depart. He also had dinner arranged. I called back later and arranged a departure time assuming we would ferry the broken plane home. We found out in the morning that we were flying the passenger flight. Fortunately the flight was uneventful. As I write this report I realize that I am still not ready to fly; have taken myself off my next trip and had no business working home. Our Flight Attendant's deadheaded home as we should have. My main concerns: 1. Mask & goggle communications in cockpit need improvement 2. Lackof communication ability on ground. Possibly an international cell phone assigned to international flights with programmed numbers. 3. Lack of support from company after landing. A 'one stop shopping' contact (like Dispatch on a flight) needs to be assigned to the event.

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.