B737-800
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
On departure; the first officer and I noticed a very strong odor in the aircraft. I proceeded to call the cabin to inquire if they could smell the odor that we were experiencing. The number one flight attendant informed me that she could smell it and passengers were complaining about the odor as well. It was a very strong odor that I have never experienced before. It had a chemical smell to it and we could not determine the origin. I proceeded to identify as a priority handling with departure and we returned for landing. The total time in flight was 10 minutes and the landing was uneventful. After being checked by the ARFF crew we proceeded to the gate. An entry was made in the logbook and maintenance was notified. It is also important to note that two days prior; this aircraft had to return to the gate due to an odor on the aircraft and according to ZZZ maintenance the aircraft had another logbook indicating an odor in the cabin. There were no health issued with the passengers; and the flight attendants declined to be checked in ZZZ.
Unknown fume event. Maintenance informed us they washed the engines the night before and did a high power run after; but this aircraft seemed to have a fume event history after they did some more digging into its history.
B737-800 flight crew reported strong fumes on flight deck during takeoff; consequently; they returned to the departure airport.