An A320 flight attendant notified the pilots of a burning plastic smell in the aft galley which diss...

Narrative:

During our cruise portion of the flight about an hour after [departure]; the aft flight attendant called the purser to tell her that she smelled a burning plastic smell and the aft electrical panel in the galley next to the coffee makers was very hot. After contacting me I directed her to turn off all electric equipment in the galley and let me know if the smell went away. She called back and informed me that the #2 coffee maker circuit breaker had popped out and the smell had subsided. I called the dispatcher and maintenance to let them know what was going on. We discussed the possibility of a divert if the situation changed at all for the worse. The flight attendant monitored the area for about 5 minutes before calling me again to inform me that now the smell had returned; the panel was getting hot again and the T/right circuit breaker had just tripped out also. After a few more minutes she said the smell was going away and the temperature was cooling down. At that time we felt that it would be prudent to get the aircraft on the ground to get the electric system checked out before going any further. We were about 150 miles west of [a suitable airport] when we decided to divert as a precaution. We informed dispatch and ATC. We had a flight attendant remain in the galley to inform us of any changes. There was no smoke or flames or any unusual ecams or indications in the cockpit that we noticed. We landed about 15-20 minutes after the decision was made to divert.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320 Flight Attendant notified the pilots of a burning plastic smell in the aft galley which dissipated when the coffee makers were turned off. Later a T/R circuit breaker popped with more electrical smell so the crew diverted to an enroute airport.

Narrative: During our cruise portion of the flight about an hour after [departure]; the aft Flight Attendant called the Purser to tell her that she smelled a burning plastic smell and the aft electrical panel in the galley next to the coffee makers was very hot. After contacting me I directed her to turn off all electric equipment in the galley and let me know if the smell went away. She called back and informed me that the #2 coffee maker circuit breaker had popped out and the smell had subsided. I called the Dispatcher and Maintenance to let them know what was going on. We discussed the possibility of a divert if the situation changed at all for the worse. The Flight Attendant monitored the area for about 5 minutes before calling me again to inform me that now the smell had returned; the panel was getting hot again and the T/R circuit breaker had just tripped out also. After a few more minutes she said the smell was going away and the temperature was cooling down. At that time we felt that it would be prudent to get the aircraft on the ground to get the electric system checked out before going any further. We were about 150 miles west of [a suitable airport] when we decided to divert as a precaution. We informed Dispatch and ATC. We had a Flight Attendant remain in the galley to inform us of any changes. There was no smoke or flames or any unusual ECAMs or indications in the cockpit that we noticed. We landed about 15-20 minutes after the decision was made to divert.

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	929424
Time
Date	201101
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Electrical Power
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 1000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 225 Flight Crew Total 10500 Flight Crew Type 2400
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

An A320 flight attendant notified the pilots of a burning plastic smell in the aft galley which dissipated when the coffee makers were turned off. Later a T/right circuit breaker popped with more electrical smell so the crew diverted to an enroute airport.