Narrative:

When thrust levers moved to takeoff power; a faint mist/smoke began emanating from captain's (my) side vent under dv window. It took a few seconds to determine it was smoke; not condensation. The odor was faint; clearly not normal but also not electrical. I couldn't quite recognize it. I took the aircraft and aborted the takeoff. I don't think we'd even reached 80 KTS yet; but the rejected takeoff was easy and smooth so I was able to exit in a normal manner. I notified tower we were aborting due to smoke in the cockpit. With the thrust to idle; the faint amount of smoke was already dissipating. Tower asked if we were declaring an emergency and I say 'yes.' I then called the flight attendant to notify her we had aborted due to smoke in cockpit and asked if she'd seen anything. She advised she'd seen a 'lot of smoke' in the cabin. I asked if it was dissipating or increasing. She said dissipating so I elected to return to the gate instead of evacuating on the taxiway. The return to gate was normal including the wait for rampers.discussion with maintenance afterward led me to believe the problem was an increasingly common one of engine seals leaking oil and it being burned off and passed into the cockpit and/or cabin either during takeoff or on initial climb out.1. Revise maintenance schedule for engine inspections for this problem. (As stated from the maintenance personnel) 2. As part of training; expose crews to various burning smells such as oil; electrical; metal; insulation; etc. I was only familiar with the electrical burning smell from personal flying experience. Due to a lack experience with this odor; I didn't readily identify it as oil from the engine.3. This flight was the second one after minimum reduced rest overnight. Although not 'fatigued' at the time; the lack of proper rest did produce a reduced amount of awareness on my part in reacting to the emergency. Seconds lost as I evaluated the problem with a less-alert mind possibly would not have occurred had I been more rested.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB140 Captain experienced smoke in the cockpit during takeoff roll and rejected; smoke was also reported in the cabin.

Narrative: When thrust levers moved to takeoff power; a faint mist/smoke began emanating from Captain's (my) side vent under DV window. It took a few seconds to determine it was smoke; not condensation. The odor was faint; clearly not normal but also not electrical. I couldn't quite recognize it. I took the aircraft and aborted the takeoff. I don't think we'd even reached 80 KTS yet; but the rejected takeoff was easy and smooth so I was able to exit in a normal manner. I notified Tower we were aborting due to smoke in the cockpit. With the thrust to idle; the faint amount of smoke was already dissipating. Tower asked if we were declaring an emergency and I say 'Yes.' I then called the Flight Attendant to notify her we had aborted due to smoke in cockpit and asked if she'd seen anything. She advised she'd seen a 'lot of smoke' in the cabin. I asked if it was dissipating or increasing. She said dissipating so I elected to return to the gate instead of evacuating on the taxiway. The return to gate was normal including the wait for rampers.Discussion with Maintenance afterward led me to believe the problem was an increasingly common one of engine seals leaking oil and it being burned off and passed into the cockpit and/or cabin either during takeoff or on initial climb out.1. Revise maintenance schedule for engine inspections for this problem. (As stated from the Maintenance personnel) 2. As part of training; expose crews to various burning smells such as oil; electrical; metal; insulation; etc. I was only familiar with the electrical burning smell from personal flying experience. Due to a lack experience with this odor; I didn't readily identify it as oil from the engine.3. This flight was the second one after minimum reduced rest overnight. Although not 'fatigued' at the time; the lack of proper rest did produce a reduced amount of awareness on my part in reacting to the emergency. Seconds lost as I evaluated the problem with a less-alert mind possibly would not have occurred had I been more rested.

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.