Date: 202001
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Takeoff / Launch
Airspace: Class B ZZZ
ATC / advisory: TRACON ZZZ
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Anomaly: Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Detector: Person Flight Attendant; Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: This report is largely informational. To the best of my knowledge no flight deck crew member did anything wrong; nor was there any malfunction.  While reviewing the paperwork for this flight I noticed the maintenance release form listed a previous leg's multi bird strike which was fully signed off by Maintenance. The corrective action by Maintenance mentioned that bird parts/feathers may have been ingested into the engine. I mentally noted this; and watched the engine closely during start; taxi; and power-up for takeoff. The entire time the engine and all aircraft systems were entirely and completely normal. In the middle of the takeoff roll (above 100 knots) myself and the First Officer both noticed a strange smell but since absolutely everything was functioning normally we continued. One of the flight attendants called the flight deck at around 500 feet; in the climb saying they smelled something and they were concerned. We assured them we were safe and we would call them back shortly. By 1;000 feet in the climb the smell dissipated and went away completely; all systems were normal; the engines were purring contentedly; and we had no indication of anything wrong at all. Although I was ready to turn back to ZZZ immediately there was no reason to; since there was nothing wrong. We continued the climb; and at a reasonable altitude I called the flight attendants back and explained that everything was absolutely fine; we were going to continue to ZZZ1; and I suspected the strange smell was burning bird feathers from the bird strike. They accepted this and we continued to ZZZ1 without incident. At the gate before deplaning I asked the flight attendants (as I do every leg) if they needed anything further from me. They said no; so I proceeded to the next gate for my next flight.  Just before pushing off the gate for the next leg; Operations and Maintenance called me asking for an explanation for the earlier smells which the previous flight attendants had apparently communicated to them. Maintenance asked me to fill out a 2-page questionnaire which I completed and handed back to them before my next departure. None of the questions on their forms were relevant but I answered them to the best of my ability anyway; then provided a written statement on the back to explain what happened. They seemed satisfied with this and we went our separate ways.  In summary; with the information we had in front of us; we had no reason to believe there was anything wrong with that aircraft at any time from the time we left the gate in ZZZ to the point of setting the brakes at the gate in ZZZ1. With the information we had there was no reason to abort the takeoff; and there was no reason to air-return. The First Officer and I were in complete agreement on this; the cabin crew was kept informed; and safety was never in question. It is not uncommon to smell strange things for brief periods of time on our flights in general; and we assess things and make appropriate decisions. It is possible that there was something else wrong with the airplane and that the information provided about the bird strike led me to a false conclusion; in which case a maintenance write-up may have proven useful. I did not write it up because to the best of my knowledge; given the information provided to me both through the maintenance log and all physical evidence in front of me; there was never actually anything wrong.  As an aside; I am curious about how or why the flight attendants communicated this to maintenance without communicating with me first. Their concerns and input are always valid; however I did not think this was our procedure.




Synopsis: B737 Captain reported a temporary strange odor during takeoff roll which was also reported by Flight Attendant. With all other aircraft indications normal; flight continued to destination.