Narrative:

We were passing through 6;000' on approach when we got a chime from the flight attendants who reported that there was a strong smell of plastic burning in the cabin; with the strongest presence of it in the back of the cabin. Apparently it began passing through 10;000 feet. There was no smoke in the cabin and there was no apparent cause of the odor. We were already joining the final approach; and were number two for the runway; not expecting delays. As a precaution; I contacted the approach controller and informed him of the situation. I did not declare an emergency; but I did request emergency equipment to be standing by in case the condition deteriorated. I don't know whether ATC declared an emergency for us.after landing the first officer contacted the flight attendants to get a progress report. They informed us that the smell went away; and that there was a popped circuit breaker in the aft galley -- the inboard coffee maker; which was deferred. At no point was the smell strongly present in the flight deck. I smelled a hint of it during the approach; but the first officer could not detect it. We passed the update on to ATC and; followed by the emergency equipment; we continued to the gate. Upon arriving at the gate; we asked the passengers to remain seated while I investigated the cabin. I observed no smells or apparent sources; and with the consent of the fire marshal we deplaned. The fire marshal then conducted a further inspection of the cabin and found nothing.there were some clues as to what may have caused the smell; though there was no obvious explanation. First; there was the coffee maker circuit breaker. However; that coffee maker was deferred; and was not used; and; according to maintenance control; the circuit breaker may have been pulled by maintenance; but not collared. The flight attendant did not observe it pop; nor did she remember if it was popped prior to flight. Second; passing through about 20;000 feet; we had a bleed 2 fail message; which we were able to clear by running the QRH procedure. If there was an issue that affected the bleed; which primarily feeds pack 2; it might explain why the smell was mostly present in the cabin. Finally; something that occurred to me at writing of this report; this airplane had a history of the cabin gasper fan circuit breaker tripping in the prior weeks; and was deferred for a time. If I recall correctly; it was causing a smell in the cabin. I passed this information to maintenance as soon as it occurred to me. I believe continuing a steady approach into our destination airport was the best course of action; though perhaps we should have considered donning oxygen masks. My emphasis was on getting the aircraft on the ground safely.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An E170 flight crew on final approach was informed by a Flight Attendant of a strong burning plastic odor. Emergency equipment was called and CFR investigated the aircraft after a safe landing and taxi to its gate.

Narrative: We were passing through 6;000' on approach when we got a chime from the flight attendants who reported that there was a strong smell of plastic burning in the cabin; with the strongest presence of it in the back of the cabin. Apparently it began passing through 10;000 feet. There was no smoke in the cabin and there was no apparent cause of the odor. We were already joining the final approach; and were number two for the runway; not expecting delays. As a precaution; I contacted the Approach Controller and informed him of the situation. I did not declare an emergency; but I did request emergency equipment to be standing by in case the condition deteriorated. I don't know whether ATC declared an emergency for us.After landing the First Officer contacted the flight attendants to get a progress report. They informed us that the smell went away; and that there was a popped circuit breaker in the aft galley -- the inboard coffee maker; which was deferred. At no point was the smell strongly present in the flight deck. I smelled a hint of it during the approach; but the First Officer could not detect it. We passed the update on to ATC and; followed by the emergency equipment; we continued to the gate. Upon arriving at the gate; we asked the passengers to remain seated while I investigated the cabin. I observed no smells or apparent sources; and with the consent of the Fire Marshal we deplaned. The Fire Marshal then conducted a further inspection of the cabin and found nothing.There were some clues as to what may have caused the smell; though there was no obvious explanation. First; there was the coffee maker circuit breaker. However; that coffee maker was deferred; and was not used; and; according to Maintenance Control; the circuit breaker may have been pulled by Maintenance; but not collared. The Flight Attendant did not observe it pop; nor did she remember if it was popped prior to flight. Second; passing through about 20;000 feet; we had a Bleed 2 Fail message; which we were able to clear by running the QRH procedure. If there was an issue that affected the bleed; which primarily feeds Pack 2; it might explain why the smell was mostly present in the cabin. Finally; something that occurred to me at writing of this report; this airplane had a history of the cabin gasper fan circuit breaker tripping in the prior weeks; and was deferred for a time. If I recall correctly; it was causing a smell in the cabin. I passed this information to Maintenance as soon as it occurred to me. I believe continuing a steady approach into our destination airport was the best course of action; though perhaps we should have considered donning oxygen masks. My emphasis was on getting the aircraft on the ground safely.

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.