Narrative:

Just after liftoff I noticed the visibility in the cockpit was becoming less clear. At first I thought it was moisture but very quickly realized that it was smoke that was entering the cockpit through the air conditioning system. The odor of the smoke had a hint of oil but was not overwhelming. I asked the first officer if he thought it was smoke and he agreed. He donned his oxygen mask while I continued to fly the jet. Once he had secured his mask I gave the aircraft to him and did the same. We continued on the departure insuring terrain separation and getting the aircraft in a situation in which we could continue to run the qrc and the subsequent checklist. I was flying the aircraft while the first officer ran the checklist. I asked the first officer to turn off the right recirculation fan in the process. I then asked TRACON if we could level at 10000 feet as we had a problem that we needed to checkout. During this time a call from the cabin came in with information that there was smoke in the cabin at about rows 16 to 19 and that a smoke alarm in the aftmost forward lavatory was sounding. Departure asked if we needed to stay close to the airport and I responded 'yes'. Departure gave us an initial vector to turn to 290 degrees and maintain 10000 feet. At about this point the smoke ceased to enter the cockpit and was dissipating. The first officer called the back of the cabin and asked if the smoke was starting to dissipate. The answer was yes but the smoke alarm in the lavatory was still sounding. The first officer and I agreed that a return to the field was necessary and he declared an emergency. Departure then turned us on a downwind and issued a lower altitude. We called the aft flight attendants again to find out about the lavatory smoke alarm. They said it was still sounding but that no smoke could be seen and no heat from around the door could be felt. I asked him to tell the flight attendant that this was a cabin advisory and that we would be landing in 5 minutes. We were then vectored on to final and cleared for a visual approach. The first officer and I discussed plans if it became necessary to evacuate. We landed uneventfully and turned off the runway at taxiway P. The fire trucks were along each side and indicated that no smoke was observed from outside of our aircraft. We then expeditiously taxied to the gate where fireman boarded the aircraft and checked out the lavatory in question. They found no evidence of smoke or fire in the lavatory. However they did indicate that the floor of the lavatory was warm and asked if we had any cargo fire warnings. We answered that we did not have any cargo fire indications. During this time we had to ask that the passengers remain on the aircraft while the firemen boarded and checked out the lavatory. Once given the all clear the passengers and crew exited the aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 returned to the departure airport when smoke entered the cockpit and cabin through the air conditioning system.

Narrative: Just after liftoff I noticed the visibility in the cockpit was becoming less clear. At first I thought it was moisture but very quickly realized that it was smoke that was entering the cockpit through the air conditioning system. The odor of the smoke had a hint of oil but was not overwhelming. I asked the First Officer if he thought it was smoke and he agreed. He donned his oxygen mask while I continued to fly the jet. Once he had secured his mask I gave the aircraft to him and did the same. We continued on the departure insuring terrain separation and getting the aircraft in a situation in which we could continue to run the QRC and the subsequent checklist. I was flying the aircraft while the First Officer ran the checklist. I asked the First Officer to turn off the right recirculation fan in the process. I then asked TRACON if we could level at 10000 feet as we had a problem that we needed to checkout. During this time a call from the cabin came in with information that there was smoke in the cabin at about rows 16 to 19 and that a smoke alarm in the aftmost forward lavatory was sounding. Departure asked if we needed to stay close to the airport and I responded 'yes'. Departure gave us an initial vector to turn to 290 degrees and maintain 10000 feet. At about this point the smoke ceased to enter the cockpit and was dissipating. The First Officer called the back of the cabin and asked if the smoke was starting to dissipate. The answer was yes but the smoke alarm in the lavatory was still sounding. The First Officer and I agreed that a return to the field was necessary and he declared an emergency. Departure then turned us on a downwind and issued a lower altitude. We called the aft flight attendants again to find out about the lavatory smoke alarm. They said it was still sounding but that no smoke could be seen and no heat from around the door could be felt. I asked him to tell the flight attendant that this was a cabin advisory and that we would be landing in 5 minutes. We were then vectored on to final and cleared for a visual approach. The First Officer and I discussed plans if it became necessary to evacuate. We landed uneventfully and turned off the runway at taxiway P. The fire trucks were along each side and indicated that no smoke was observed from outside of our aircraft. We then expeditiously taxied to the gate where fireman boarded the aircraft and checked out the lavatory in question. They found no evidence of smoke or fire in the lavatory. However they did indicate that the floor of the lavatory was warm and asked if we had any cargo fire warnings. We answered that we did not have any cargo fire indications. During this time we had to ask that the passengers remain on the aircraft while the firemen boarded and checked out the lavatory. Once given the all clear the passengers and crew exited 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.