MD80 flight attendant detects a burning plastic smell shortly after takeoff and reports it to the fl...

Narrative:

Approximately 10-15 minutes after departure I smelled an unusual odor. Flight attendants were still in their jumpseats because of the turbulence on departure. I got the attention of the #2 flight attendant and asked her if she smelled anything and she agreed and she picked up the interphone to call the cockpit. I listened in while she reported what we smelled. The odor smelled like burning plastic. The captain informed us he was going to try to turn some things off to see if the odor would dissipate. We were told by the captain to let him know if the odor got worse or dissipated. After a few minutes the odor did dissipate. We reported that to the cockpit. No more odor during the rest of the flight until descent. I picked up the interphone to inform the cockpit the odor had returned. Within a few minutes the captain called back and told us that he requested immediate landing. Landing was normal. The aircraft was met by emergency equipment.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 Flight Attendant detects a burning plastic smell shortly after takeoff and reports it to the flight crew. The odor dissipates until the start of descent for landing when it returns. Expeditious handling is requested by the flight crew and a normal landing ensues.

Narrative: Approximately 10-15 minutes after departure I smelled an unusual odor. Flight attendants were still in their jumpseats because of the turbulence on departure. I got the attention of the #2 Flight Attendant and asked her if she smelled anything and she agreed and she picked up the interphone to call the cockpit. I listened in while she reported what we smelled. The odor smelled like burning plastic. The Captain informed us he was going to try to turn some things off to see if the odor would dissipate. We were told by the Captain to let him know if the odor got worse or dissipated. After a few minutes the odor did dissipate. We reported that to the cockpit. No more odor during the rest of the flight until descent. I picked up the interphone to inform the cockpit the odor had returned. Within a few minutes the Captain called back and told us that he requested immediate landing. Landing was normal. The aircraft was met by emergency equipment.

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	921854
Time
Date	201011
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Electrical Wiring & Connectors
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

MD80 flight attendant detects a burning plastic smell shortly after takeoff and reports it to the flight crew. The odor dissipates until the start of descent for landing when it returns. Expeditious handling is requested by the flight crew and a normal landing ensues.