An EMB140 declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport following receipt of a lav smo...

Narrative:

During initial climb out the flight attendant called the flight deck to report a 'strange' smell and smoke in the cabin. At this time we received an EICAS message 'lav smoke'. The flight attendant investigated the lavatory area and there was no obvious source of smoke/fire; yet the strange smell was still present and smoke still visible coming from the overhead air vents. Simultaneously notified the flight attendant we were now an inflight emergency and going back to the departure airport. I told the first officer to declare an emergency and to request an immediate return. Flight deck oxygen was utilized. We made an uneventful visual approach and landing. Crash fire rescue equipment personnel and equipment met the aircraft. We evaluated the condition in the cabin; while crash fire rescue equipment personnel looked for any aircraft hot spots using their equipment. Had crash fire rescue equipment follow the aircraft to the gate. Passengers deplaned. No passenger or crew injuries.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An EMB140 declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport following receipt of a LAV SMOKE EICAS message and a report of same from the Flight Attendant.

Narrative: During initial climb out the Flight Attendant called the flight deck to report a 'strange' smell and smoke in the cabin. At this time we received an EICAS message 'LAV SMOKE'. The Flight Attendant investigated the lavatory area and there was no obvious source of smoke/fire; yet the strange smell was still present and smoke still visible coming from the overhead air vents. Simultaneously notified the Flight Attendant we were now an inflight emergency and going back to the departure airport. I told the First Officer to declare an emergency and to request an immediate return. Flight deck oxygen was utilized. We made an uneventful visual approach and landing. CFR personnel and equipment met the aircraft. We evaluated the condition in the cabin; while CFR personnel looked for any aircraft hot spots using their equipment. Had CFR follow the aircraft to the gate. Passengers deplaned. No passenger or crew injuries.

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	863508
Time
Date	200912
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 140 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Total 15400
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

An EMB140 declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport following receipt of a lav smoke EICAS message and a report of same from the flight attendant.