Narrative:

Six hours into our flight while I was on my rest break I was awakened and called to the cockpit. When I called to gain entry first officer a asked if I noticed any smoke or electrical smell in the cabin which I reported that I had not noticed. On entry into the cockpit; there was a strong electrical burning smell. The crew was on oxygen with first officer B giving full attention to flying the aircraft while first officer a was attending to the problem. As I entered the cockpit a status message alert came on the EICAS. Opening the status page revealed the following status message: 'equipment cooling fan.' I called dispatch on satcom to get a phone patch with maintenance to see if they could query the aircraft to confirm our indication and see any other problems with the aircraft from their end. Maintenance confirmed that the right equipment cooling fan was indicating a problem and reported that it's status was 'latched out and active' and that the left equipment cooling fan was operating. By this time; the electrical smell to the cockpit had cleared. I was concerned about the right equipment cooling fan status and asked maintenance if we could further deactivate or isolate it. After further discussion with maintenance; we made the decision to pull the right equipment cooling fan control circuit breaker located in the lower east&east compartment and also the opportunity to evaluate the status of the compartment for any other problems. Maintenance provided us the panel number and grid where the circuit breaker was located. First officer a assisted by first officer B entered the lower east&east compartment and pulled the right equipment cooling fan breaker; no other problems were noted in the east&east compartment. We evaluated; with maintenance's concurrence; that the right equipment cooling fan had been the source of the cockpit electrical smell. We also agree from our indication and maintenance's data that the left equipment cooling fan was working normally and the right equipment cooling fan was completely shut down and isolated. No other problems were noted; the flight attendants were advised to return all equipment to normal operations and be alert to any further problems. Confident that the source of the problem had been isolated and deactivated; we continued our flight to our scheduled destination with no further problems.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The right equipment cooling fan on a B777 overheated causing cockpit smoke and fumes. The EICAS alerted 'EQUIP COOLING FAN R'. The checklist was completed; circuit breaker pulled; after the fumes dissipated the flight crew continued uneventfully to their destination.

Narrative: Six hours into our flight while I was on my rest break I was awakened and called to the cockpit. When I called to gain entry First Officer A asked if I noticed any smoke or electrical smell in the cabin which I reported that I had not noticed. On entry into the cockpit; there was a strong electrical burning smell. The crew was on oxygen with First Officer B giving full attention to flying the aircraft while First Officer A was attending to the problem. As I entered the cockpit a status message ALERT came on the EICAS. Opening the status page revealed the following status message: 'Equipment Cooling Fan.' I called Dispatch on SATCOM to get a phone patch with Maintenance to see if they could query the aircraft to confirm our indication and see any other problems with the aircraft from their end. Maintenance confirmed that the R Equipment Cooling Fan was indicating a problem and reported that it's status was 'Latched Out and Active' and that the L Equipment Cooling Fan was operating. By this time; the electrical smell to the cockpit had cleared. I was concerned about the R Equipment Cooling Fan status and asked Maintenance if we could further deactivate or isolate it. After further discussion with Maintenance; we made the decision to pull the R Equipment Cooling Fan control circuit breaker located in the lower E&E compartment and also the opportunity to evaluate the status of the compartment for any other problems. Maintenance provided us the panel number and grid where the circuit breaker was located. First Officer A assisted by First Officer B entered the lower E&E compartment and pulled the R Equipment Cooling Fan breaker; no other problems were noted in the E&E compartment. We evaluated; with Maintenance's concurrence; that the R Equipment Cooling Fan had been the source of the cockpit electrical smell. We also agree from our indication and Maintenance's data that the L Equipment Cooling Fan was working normally and the R Equipment Cooling Fan was completely shut down and isolated. No other problems were noted; the flight attendants were advised to return all equipment to normal operations and be alert to any further problems. Confident that the source of the problem had been isolated and deactivated; we continued our flight to our scheduled destination with no further problems.

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.