Narrative:

We were at cruise altitude of FL370 when I began to smell the unmistakable odor of turbine oil in the air conditioning system. I glanced down at the EICAS screens to investigate. I noticed that the right engine oil quantity was at zero; while the oil pressure and temperature were still in the normal range. The left engine was operating normally. I mentioned this to my first officer as I began to pull out my flight manual. He did the same; although it was his flying leg. Even though the engine was still operating; I suggested we get a descent clearance to a lower altitude. I now figured we would see further degradation of the engine. I also suggested we retard the throttle for that engine to idle as well; while we looked in our manuals. As we were looking up the in-flight engine shutdown checklist; I requested a lower altitude from ATC because of an engine problem. They gave us lower and we started descent down to FL310. The oil pressure for the right engine now began its downward trend and eventually started bouncing in and out of the red range. As this was happening; the oil temperature was beginning to rise as well and wound up in the yellow range. We elected to go ahead with the engine shutdown procedure before it actually seized on us. My first officer was flying the aircraft and talking to ATC while I was running the book procedures. We had our choice of airports around us pretty much equidistant from us. We chose to divert to an airport which was around forty miles away. It also happens to have been an online [company] station; which was quite helpful. The weather was day VFR. We declared an emergency with ATC and got cleared direct to the airport; with subsequent altitude changes and a change over to TRACON. While my first officer was flying and talking to ATC; I was talking to dispatch about our condition; and our plan to divert. I also spoke with the flight attendants in a calm manner and explained to them what was happening. I calmly told them the engine was shutdown and that we were proceeding to the diversion airport. They then informed me that there had been a slight fog in the cabin air along with the smell. I asked them if the air had cleared since the engine was now shutdown; and they said it had. I then got on the PA and calmly told the passengers about our situation. After finishing these duties; I returned to my normal duties as a non-flying pilot. My very experienced and highly competent first officer had things well in hand; and we were descending down onto a downwind leg. This is a long runway (approximately 10;000 ft) and we expected no major issues here. We landed with flaps at twenty and with a quartering headwind/left crosswind of around twelve knots or so. The landing was uneventful and we cleared the runway with a taxi to the gate. It was just like the simulator.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 flight crew reported shutting down the right engine in cruise because of low oil pressure. They ran the procedures; declared an emergency; and diverted to the nearest suitable airport for a safe single engine landing.

Narrative: We were at cruise altitude of FL370 when I began to smell the unmistakable odor of turbine oil in the air conditioning system. I glanced down at the EICAS screens to investigate. I noticed that the right engine oil quantity was at zero; while the oil pressure and temperature were still in the normal range. The left engine was operating normally. I mentioned this to my First Officer as I began to pull out my Flight Manual. He did the same; although it was his flying leg. Even though the engine was still operating; I suggested we get a descent clearance to a lower altitude. I now figured we would see further degradation of the engine. I also suggested we retard the throttle for that engine to idle as well; while we looked in our manuals. As we were looking up the In-flight Engine Shutdown Checklist; I requested a lower altitude from ATC because of an engine problem. They gave us lower and we started descent down to FL310. The oil pressure for the right engine now began its downward trend and eventually started bouncing in and out of the red range. As this was happening; the oil temperature was beginning to rise as well and wound up in the yellow range. We elected to go ahead with the engine shutdown procedure before it actually seized on us. My First Officer was flying the aircraft and talking to ATC while I was running the book procedures. We had our choice of airports around us pretty much equidistant from us. We chose to divert to an airport which was around forty miles away. It also happens to have been an online [company] station; which was quite helpful. The weather was day VFR. We declared an emergency with ATC and got cleared direct to the airport; with subsequent altitude changes and a change over to TRACON. While my First Officer was flying and talking to ATC; I was talking to Dispatch about our condition; and our plan to divert. I also spoke with the Flight Attendants in a calm manner and explained to them what was happening. I calmly told them the engine was shutdown and that we were proceeding to the diversion airport. They then informed me that there had been a slight fog in the cabin air along with the smell. I asked them if the air had cleared since the engine was now shutdown; and they said it had. I then got on the PA and calmly told the passengers about our situation. After finishing these duties; I returned to my normal duties as a non-flying pilot. My very experienced and highly competent First Officer had things well in hand; and we were descending down onto a downwind leg. This is a long runway (approximately 10;000 FT) and we expected no major issues here. We landed with flaps at twenty and with a quartering headwind/left crosswind of around twelve knots or so. The landing was uneventful and we cleared the runway with a taxi to the gate. It was just like the simulator.

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.