Air carrier pilot reported during descent there was a spark and electrical popping sounds from panels in the flight deck accompanied by a burning electrical odor. Flight crew landed safely at destination airport where airport responders found no presence of smoke in the aircraft.

ACN 2022715 2023-07 MD-11 Cabin Smoke, Fire, Fumes, or Odor Incidents

Descent ComponentPart 121

What is ASRS?

The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.

Pilot narrative

Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time); anonymization placeholders are ZZZ, X, Y.

During descent there was a spark and electrical, popping / crackling sounds from panels behind and to the right of the FO. The overhead panel back lighting also went dark. We immediately smelled a burning electrical odor. O2 masks were donned and crew communication was established. The FO continued as flying pilot. I [requested priority handling] with ZZZ Center for fumes and smoke in the cockpit and that we were proceeding direct to ZZZ, ZZZZZ intersection. The non-alert, smoke/fire/fumes [checklist] was completed to the landing section. I positioned my Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS) on the top of the glare shield but didnt inflate because smoke was not a visibility issue at that time. Approach briefing was completed for XXR. We elected to autoland due to wearing O2 masks. Landing was normal and vacated XXR at taxiway 1, stopping between taxiways 2 & 3 were airport CFR was standing by. Cockpit windows were opened to vent fumes. After CFR found nothing abnormal on the outside of the aircraft we taxied to the area between [taxiway] 4 and spot XX on ramp XX. I elected to shutdown the aircraft down without APU or EXT power because the original problem was electrical. We also determined that an emergency evacuation via slides was not necessary as there was no presence of smoke. Emergency slides were disarmed and the left side door was opened with the emergency pneumatic bottle. Crew stairs were brought to the aircraft. CFR entered and said their scanners were showing no smoke.

NASA classification — Anomalies

Aircraft Equipment Problem
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural

NASA classification — Assessments

Contributing Factors / Situations: Aircraft
Primary Problem: Aircraft

ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.