Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Multiengine
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Maintenance Action
Approximately 30 min outside of ZZZ; the FA called the cockpit informing of a strong odor near the galley of the aircraft. The FA noticed the smell and indicated 1 passenger also noticed the smell; believing it may smell like burning rubber. However; there were no other indications of problems; additional smells or smoke in the cabin. Over approximately the next 10 minutes; we coordinated with the FA to obtain additional information; having the FA inspect the cabin further; the outside of the aircraft from any vantage point possible and inquiring about the smell with other passengers. During that time; we reviewed nearby airports for a potential immediate; emergency divert. Ultimately; the FA came back with no additional indications that anything was abnormal; nor did any other passengers notice any issues. However; she and the one passenger continued to believe there was an abnormal smell in the front of the aircraft. By this time we were 20 minutes or less to ZZZ. In my mind; we either had two choices - ignore the issue because of lack of information or be extra cautious and [notify ATC] into ZZZ; to get the aircraft on the ground as quickly as possible; in the event something hidden and not yet identifiable was occurring. We opted to [notify ATC]; coordinating with ATC to have fire meet us on the ground; to do an outside inspection of the aircraft upon landing. We did not consider another airport at this time; as we were already so close to ZZZ and were set up for an arrival there. During the arrival; we continued with all normal checklists; however; we did not run any emergency or abnormal checklists. Admittedly; this may not have been done due in part to haste; however; we also did not have enough information to identify what; if anything we could do or what issue we could address with any additional checklists. During the approach; I made an announcement to the passengers; informing them of the potential issue and a possible evacuation on the ground; if anything was found to be abnormal. However; I stressed the fact that we were simply being very cautious and did not anticipate any issues. Additionally; I sent a quick ACARS message to Dispatch regarding the situation. Upon landing; we quickly exited the runway; taxied across another runway and proceeded to park on an adjacent taxiway; all per ATC instructions. We were put on a discreet frequency with fire; who surveyed the outside of the aircraft. Fire reported no abnormalities. I also called back to the FA; who reported no change in the cabin. Based on this information; we continued taxi to the gate; with fire in trail. The passengers deplaned normally at the gate. The cause of the event was the FA reporting a strong odor; possibly the smell of something burning; with one passenger also believing to smell something similar to burnt rubber. Contributing to the difficulty in determining how to proceed was the lack of any additional supporting evidence to any actual smoke; fire; fume related event in the cabin; inclusive of no physical evidence to the same or any additional passenger confirming an issue. Also; there were no cockpit indications of any issue with the aircraft; either sensory or via any aircraft alerting system. I'm not exactly sure how/if this event could have been avoided. What I believe it comes down to is having to make a difficult choice of what to do in a situation where only very limited information is available. For us; those choices were to ignore the situation because of lack of evidence or proceed to the ground in an expeditious manner; where further outside and inside evaluation was possible. We chose the latter; with an abundance of safety; while not being over alarmist being the main objectives.
CRJ-200 Captain reported Flight Attendant notification of burning rubber odor in the passenger cabin.