EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
Prior to our departure from ZZZ; we had almost completed the boarding process when the flight attendant stated that something did not smell quite right towards the rear of the aircraft and that it smelled as though there was an electrical odor such as overheating wires or insulation. I had the first officer go check it out and they came back with a confirmation that the flight attendant was indeed correct and that there was something amiss with the aircraft. I then calmly instructed the flight attendant to instruct the passengers to calmly collect their belongings and to exit the aircraft and head back to the gate area as we were unfortunately on a mechanical delay being very careful not to cause alarm or confusion. After this was completed maintenance came on the aircraft and began to track down the source. After a fair amount of time maintenance found what they believed to be the source and dealt with it accordingly. The odor still remained so I started the APU; opened the baggage door and then closed the main and galley service door with the PACKs on and the RECIRC Fan off to try and clear the air in the cabin of the odor. After five to ten minutes the odor was no longer present. Having been informed by maintenance that there were no available aircraft to swap into and being reasonably satisfied with the corrective actions taken; we boarded up the passengers again and departed. The flight was normal until about twenty-five to thirty minutes into the flight I estimate when I noticed that my eyes were irritated and starting to burn and my throat was starting to feel scratchy. I asked the first officer if he felt the same and he stated that his throat was a bit irritated however as he wore contacts his eyes were probably not being as affected as mine were. I looked to see if there was any visible smoke on the flight deck and did not notice any. I called the flight attendant to ask her if her eyes were burning or her throat was bothering her and she stated that she was feeling the same symptoms that I was. I turned off the RECIRC Fan again and elected to continue to [destination] as that was our closest airport. Seeing as there was no visible smoke; I did not [advise ATC]. After we landed and taxied to the gate; as the passengers were getting off; a few of them made comments about their eyes burning and that a few had started coughing from an irritated throat. These were mainly communicated to the flight attendant who relayed the information to myself.Threats specifically related to this event include but are not limited to; the mechanical condition of the aircraft. There was a reported electrical issue that created an odor with no smoke that was dealt with however not fully investigated in my opinion. From the time that maintenance started tracking the problem until the issue was 'resolved' by local maintenance was less than thirty minutes. The lack of an available or suitable aircraft to swap out also lead to operational pressures to accept the current aircraft and it should be noted that for a very brief period of time; less than five minutes I would guess we had been swapped into a different airplane however as soon as maintenance control got word from local maintenance that the problem had been addressed we were again placed back in Aircraft X to operate the flight as originally planned. I believe that the company needs to adopt a more stringent and formal policy when it comes to dealing with any issues reported by crews that deal with smoke/odor/irritants such as the event described above. An electrical issue can sit there and fester or smolder for hours or even days before it reaches the point of no return and while I believe that the electrical issue first reported and the subsequent odorless irritant that we experienced in flight are not related; more time to properly diagnose; trouble shoot and address these issues would have been better in the long run for everyone from the crew; the passengers and even the company as a whole as this resulted in an aircraft being stranded at an out station. Once we had landed and I made the initial contact with maintenance control; I explained everything in detail as well as my detailed write up to the maintenance controller however; the communication between the various desk/departments was severely lacking to almost nonexistent in my opinion as I was receiving calls from various desks and people who had either no information about what had happened or was happening or had incorrect information about what had happened. I received a call two hours after we landed where I was accused of not relaying information that passengers had been affected as they thought that only the flight deck had experienced a smoke issue. First; there was no visible smoke period during that entire event and secondly I had communicated to maintenance control when I described the issue that not only had the crew been affected but that passengers had been affected as well and let it be known as such. There was more miscommunication as well between the company and the two pilots who were tasked with flying a recovery flight to bring an empty airplane over to get us and our passengers. They were told that the reason for the flight was that there was an issue with one of the pilots seat and while there was a deferred item on the first officer's seat on Aircraft X; that was clearly not the reason for the events that transpired. This misinformation could have been dangerous to those pilots had they been tasked with flying Aircraft X as originally planned until I timed out for the day forcing these pilots to fly the flight back. Miscommunication in general is a hazard that I have encountered more than I care to admit to over the last few years here when it was never that way when I first got hired and this is a big issue that I would say is more important to address than the condition of the fleet.
EMB145 Captain reported that during flight there was an electrical odor such as overheating wires or insulation.