EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Situational Awareness
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
There was weather along the route of flight; and we were given a reroute. The reroute after verifying with the weather radar showed we would be clear of the thunderstorms in the area. In the air; we elected to divert and used a mix of the weather radar and ATC guidance; as well as visual guidance. We were given a direct to ZZZ Airport during the last 20 minutes of the flight which we verified with ATC would clear through the weather. The radar showed no cells or build ups as well. We then encountered a moderate turbulence for no more than 5 seconds and then a bright flash occurred. Afterwards; it was smooth air; however; a strong odor was smelled. The odor was not of electric smell; but of a composite resin type smell. We notified the Flight Attendant who agreed smelled the same in the front of the aircraft. I advised the Flight Attendant to carefully walk through the cabin to see where the smell ends; as well as looking out the exit row to see if there was any signs of abnormalities outside and inside the cabin. He verified there was nothing unusual and the smell only existed in the front portion of the cabin. The smell went away completely after approximately 5 minutes. Because of this; we made a joint crew decision to not elect for an emergency and we found no indications of electrical or any abnormalities as well as no overheated or warm avionics/FMS. We briefed fire procedures just in case to be safe. We also looked at other airports to potentially divert to; but ZZZ was the only one nearby (50 miles away). Furthermore; upon landing and after we exited the runway; we received a FUEL IMBALANCE EICAS message. The aircraft indicated an imbalance of 1;900 lbs on the left wing and 1;300 lbs on the right. Due to the pre-planning for the odor; I was not aware of when the balance started occurring; but I can say it was during the decent as I did not see any imbalance before initiating the descent when verifying numbers for the landing data. All of these items were addressed with Maintenance and written up in the log accordingly.There was no way to avoid this scenario as for a possible lightning strike; we utilized all resources including the weather radar; dispatch for preflight; and ATC. If this was a potential lightning strike; all proper precautions were still utilized for cruise flight. For the imbalance; we did a final fuel check prior to descent. We landed without violating any limitations and were within the proper imbalance at touchdown as the EICAS did not occur until we exited the runway. No suggestions given; just awareness. Safety was maintained the entire time and the crew did an excellent job performing their duties and their teamwork was great.
EMB-145 Captain reported a strong composite resin type odor in cockpit also in passenger cabin. The odor dissipated after approximately five minutes.