A321
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Troubleshooting; Communication Breakdown; Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Flight Crew Diverted; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
During cruise both pilots noticed an odor in the cockpit followed by a report from a flight attendant that the odor was also present in the cabin. The cockpit crew went on oxygen. The odor remained and the cockpit crew preformed the fumes removal procedure in the QRH. We notified Dispatch via ACARS. The odor dissipated in the cockpit and somewhat dissipated in the cabin but after 20 minutes the Flight Attendant complained the odor was still noticeable and some passengers were complaining of headaches. We attempted to notify Dispatch with a phone patch but were unable to contact any operations facility. We were unable to use the phone to Dispatch device in the cockpit because it was rendered unusable due to the fumes removal procedure (galley power off). Additionally; we were unable to contact via the commercial radio network. We decided to divert to a nearby airport and ATC cleared us direct; speed at our discretion. We were eventually able to contact Company Operations at the diversion airport; described the situation and requested them to inform Dispatch. Since some passengers were complaining of headaches we requested medical personnel meet the aircraft on arrival. We landed about 20 minutes later without incident. The aircraft was slightly overweight on landing at 171;800 LBS. This was noted in the logbook.
The odor remained and the cockpit crew preformed the fumes removal procedure in the QRH and went on oxygen.
An A321 diverted to a nearby airport when possibly caustic fumes were detected in the cabin and flight deck. A complicating factor was inability to communicate reliably with their company for assistance and planning.