B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Workload; Time Pressure; Situational Awareness
Deviation - Speed All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Flight Crew Returned To Clearance; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew FLC complied w / Automation / Advisory; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; General Declared Emergency; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Company Policy
Departed normally; climbing through approximately 13;000 feet; I answered a call from the A Flight Attendant (FA) who informed me that there was the smell of smoke in the cabin and many Passengers were alarmed.  I [advised] ATC and we received vectors to return to the departure airport.  Both Pilots went on O2.  I ran the appropriate QRH checklist to the point that it made more sense to discontinue that and configure the aircraft.  We were cleared for a Visual Approach; landed; and cleared the runway.  I conferred with the FAs; and we had the fire trucks check the aircraft quickly.  They found nothing; so we taxied to the Gate and deplaned all passengers with their belongings.  The logbook write-up detailed that the smell was least to the front of the cabin; and strongest to the middle and aft. The smoke was smelled but was not visible. While the First Officer (FO) was putting on his mask; I caught a faint whiff of something; but my mask was on immediately after that so I had little basis to identify what type of odor it was.  Most reports were of a metallic or electrical type of smell. The FAs performed admirably; keeping the Passengers all calm; and the jumpseat (commuting) FA; was very helpful as well; reassuring nervous Passengers seated near the over wing exits.  The FO did an excellent job flying the aircraft back to final while I worked with the FAs; ATC; and the QRH.  We may have exceeded 250 KIAS below 10;000 feet in the course of expediting the return; in exercise of my emergency authority. The Fire Department was very responsive and I appreciate their excellent work and preparedness to support us.  The Agent who manned the jetway and assisted the deplaned Passengers did great work; and the Mechanics who met the aircraft were very helpful getting everything taken care of as we handed the aircraft off to them.I spoke with our Dispatcher; then the Safety; then the Chief Pilot; and later a Union Representative.  Knowing that 'I feel good now' is no guarantee of feeling good later; my input to the Chief Pilot was that we should not operate the leg; but (after consulting with the FO) that we would be agreeable to deadhead to ZZZ.  Scheduling arranged that we would spend the night and we'll rejoin the trip tomorrow.  All in all; things worked the way one would hope that they would; given the situation we had.  The only negative aspect I see to how everything was handled was that Inflight was spring loaded to have our FAs work the leg.  When you ask the wrong question (are you okay?); you'll get the wrong answer; and their question is couched in exactly the terms that will elicit the 'yes we can continue' response.  The FAs smelled far more smoke than we did and were in the spotlight setting the tone for all of the Passengers; they have no more business being responsible for the safety of the Passengers (two hours later) than we do.  Their leadership let them down there.
During climbout; a B737 flight attendant crew detected a metallic or electrical odor so ATC was advised; the QRH completed and flight returned to the departure airport.