Burning Smell after landing - B742 - Brakes??
 

Hi all,
Was a pax on VS039 LHR - ORD last Friday.
Immediately after landing there was a strong burning smell (like melting plastic or rubber smell). I was sat in the exit seat on the right hand side of the aircraft just by the leading edge of the wing and myself and the flight attendant sat opposite me noticed it first. She started sniffing various panels and by the time we had taxied to the stand, there were 8 very concerned FA's sniffing various parts of the aircraft and feeling the ceiling panels for heat!

My question is, was this likely the wheel brakes (especially because the aircraft was fresh out of maintainence from Amsterdam?)

There were only 80 of us aboard this jumbo and the aircraft seemed to stop after only using a third or so of the runway for landing, so I reckon that the pilot used hardish braking.

Not concerned or anything, only interested. If it was the brakes, wouldn't the FA's have known this and is there normally such a strong smell.

By the way, I know Virgin keeps getting slated in various posts here, especially the FA forum, but I love flying with them, especially when they are so lightly loaded on transatlantic trips. I just nabbed an entire centre row and slept like a baby for most of the flight!

"If it was the brakes, wouldn't the FA's have known this...."

Not necessarily. I work at an International Terminal...and every time I get a whiff of burning rubber, I take heed... even though 99.99% of the time, it's simply the smell of burnt rubber from an aircraft that has just landed which has found it's way into the cabin of the aircraft I'm working on. All aircraft burn rubber on landing. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing, whether you will smell it or not.

The FA's are doing the right thing. It always pays to be careful.

Rgds.
Q.

Burnt rubber sucked in by the airconditioning packs. Not an uncommon occurence on landing. In my 32 years of operating into Kai Tak airport, there was quite a different smell permeating the cabin after landing. The runway was parallel to an open sewer culvert, called a nullah. We had many first time passengers asking about the origin of this particular odour of the "Fragrant Harbour", which is the English translation of Hong Kong.