Date: 201909
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Light: Night
Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Reporter qualification: Flight Attendant Current
Human factors: Physiological - Other
Second reporter function: Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Detector: Person Flight Crew; Person Flight Attendant; Person Passenger
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: Take off was uneventful. At 1:23 hours into cruise our crew had completed the water walk and the first beverage/retail cart service.  B Flight Attendant and D Flight Attendant were collecting trash and recycling as they were working towards the aft cabin area close to row 25; several guests around row 20 stated they were smelling something burning.  Another guest at row 18 stated he smelled smoke.B Flight Attendant and D Flight Attendant did not smell anything.  The C Flight Attendant was called to the cabin and did not smell anything at that time. B Flight Attendant and D Flight Attendant continued picking up trash and by the time the cart returned to the back galley; guests were ringing their call lights and waving at the crew to come to their cabin area. At that time B Flight Attendant; C Flight Attendant and D Flight Attendant rushed out to the cabin and there was a very strong smell of burning electrical/smoke.  A Flight Attendant came to the aft cabin after hearing all of the call lights and could smell the burning/electrical fumes from row 10. The B Flight Attendant; C Flight Attendant and D Flight Attendant had begun to open the cabin bins to search for a burning item. There was no sign of smoke in the cabin. Row 15 and 16 stated that the burning/electrical smell was coming from the vents. C Flight Attendant called the flight deck relating the situation. A Flight Attendant continued the conversation with the flight deck; the flight deck started working on their checklist and instructed the cabin crew to monitor the situation and report back.At that time B Flight Attendant had obtained the battery containment bag; the cabin crew walked through the cabin examining each overhead bin and asked the guests in the mid cabin are to check their electronic devices to feel for heat or to look for smoke. At that point our flight; had 27 minutes to our half way point. A Flight Attendant was informed by the Captain that the recirculating system was being turned off and to conform with aft cabin crew that no fire or smoke was present. Our cabin crew continued to monitor fume/smell. The electrical/burning smell was still present; no smoke or fire witnessed.Guests at this point were very frightened; several were crying; one person was suffering from an anxiety attack. Our cabin crew was instructed to suspend service until the determination of returning to [departure airport] or continuing to ZZZ was decided.The flight deck continued through their check list while communicating with [Duty Officer] via satellite phone. A Flight Attendant requested that the flight deck make an announcement to calm the guests. The flight deck acknowledged; and A Flight Attendant was informed that while working on the checklist the PA would come shortly. The decision was made to turn off seat power; check galley ovens; and coffee makers. No burning/electrical smell from the ovens that were being used nor the coffee makers in the front and aft galleys. Cabin crew and guests could not find anything hot to the touch or signs of smoke. At this time A Flight Attendant entered flight deck to communicate face to face. There was a guest in the forward lab; the D Flight Attendant guarded white the flight deck door opened and A Flight Attendant entered. At that time; another request for an announcement to the guests was requested. The flight deck discussed with A Flight Attendant the steps on [the] checklist. A Flight Attendant responded; no smoke or anything hot to the touch had been located and that the burning/electrical smell was dissipating but still slightly present.After 15 minutes; the decision to continue onto ZZZ was made by the flight deck and [Duty Officer] unless the smell resumed. Cabin crew continued to monitor cabin and guests. Comforting those that were crying; scared and panicked. We resumed service. The flight deck had called to use the lav and A Flight Attendant entered and the Captain would make an announcement for the guests; The A Flight Attendant asked the Captain to walk the cabin and answer questions and speak to the Jump Seat Pilot in row 32. The [jumpseat] pilot confirmed the fume event. The cabin crew continued to do our best to comfort and calm guests and told them if they smell something or see anything to ring their call lights.Service resumed for the remainder of the flight; cabin crew all felt light-headed and had headaches throughout the flight.Deplaning was uneventful; many guests thanked the Captain and the cabin crew for their professionalism ad for keeping them safe. Many hugs and handshakes. Maintenance arrived and started the recirculating system and the electrical burning fumes resumed. The crew moved the debrief out into the jet way.Captain and cabin crew debriefed for 30 minutes after flight. Captain asked if cabin crew thought the situation warranted turning around to land in [departure airport]. Captain was not aware that B Flight Attendant felt that the flight should have turned back to [departure airport]. Captain then explained the steps of turning back and diverting to [departure airport] versus continuing on to ZZZ.At this point; the cabin crew was physically and emotionally exhausted and the flight deck continued to answer questions. Our crew went to the company officer and sat with [Supervisor]. [Supervisor] filled out the Fumes Event Check lists. He also spoke with crew scheduling and had the D Flight Attendant move to a deadhead and removed from the remainder of her trip. The 3 remaining crew were removed from their trips to get some much needed rest and recover from this stressful situation.


Second narrative: Around 2 hours into the flight after our initial cart service I (Flight Attendant D) was out doing trash with (Flight Attendant B). When we went by with the trash cart a passenger in row 17 (or 18) stopped us and told us she thought she smelled smoke. She asked us if we could smell smoke. Both of us tried to smell what she was smelling and could not smell anything. We summoned (Flight Attendant C) for a third opinion and she could not smell anything either. When we finished with our trash cart the same passenger came running to the back and tapped me on the shoulder and told me to come smell again. When I turned around the entire cabin was looking at us and waving at us and ringing their call lights. All of the flight attendants came into the cabin and there was a very intense odor starting at row 15 to around row 25. It smelled like an electrical fire or smoke from overheating electronics. Flight Attendant D; B; and C opened all the bins and started asking people if their devices were hot or smoking. We couldn't find anything in the bins. Flight Attendant C went to the back and called the Captain to inform him of what was happening. Flight Attendant D went to the front to inform Flight Attendant A what was happening. Flight Attendant B grabbed the battery containment bag just in case we found anything that was on fire. There was no sign of smoke in the cabin. There was no smell in the front of the cabin or the back galley. We couldn't find any heat source.The guests told us that they could smell the odor coming from the air supply system. At this time the Captain turned off the electrical outlets; the entertainment; the galley power and the recirculating system. He told us to let him know if the odor continued and to continue monitoring the cabin. We told the guests to tell us if they smelled anything new or different. At this point there were several guests having panic attacks; crying and in need of assistance to help them calm down. We suspended service and did our best to help those guests that needed re-assurance.At this point it had been about 15 minutes after the event. The Captain had not made an announcement yet because he was still trying to decide if we needed to turn back around or keep going. The guests were panicking. The Flight Attendant A and Flight Attendant B asked the flight deck to make an announcement. After the decision was made to keep going the Captain made an announcement about the status of the flight and the decision he made to continue on our way to ZZZ. At this point the smell had dissipated and we couldn't smell anything.Service resumed; no smell was detected for the rest of the flight.All four flight attendants felt light headed and struggled with headaches for the remainder of the flight. Flight Attendant D and Flight Attendant C and Flight Attendant B had irritated eyes and Flight Attendant D and Flight Attendant A had irritated throats.The rest of the flight was uneventful but everyone was very anxious. We landed in ZZZ and most guests hugged us and shook our hands; saying thank you.Maintenance came on board and started checking the systems. We smelled a slight odor again once he turned on the air supply system. We moved out to the jet bridge and de-briefed with the Captain. We discussed how we all handled the situation and what we could have done better. We discussed what was happening in the flight deck and in the cabin. There was no supervisor at the plane when we disembarked.As a crew we went down to the inflight offices and got a hold of [Supervisor]. He de-briefed with us for another hour and we went through all the details. At that time we were all emotionally and physically exhausted. We were removed from our pairings and [Supervisor] filled out an air quality report for us and called Scheduling to deadhead me (Flight Attendant D) back to my base.


Synopsis: Flight attendants reported a strong burning electrical odor in passenger cabin which was also noticed by the passengers. Flight crew preformed the fumes QRH procedure and landed uneventfully at destination.