Air carrier Captain reported a burning plastic odor during descent with no aircraft indications. The flight crew diverted where a safe landing was completed.

Date: 2024-02 · Aircraft: A320

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-clearance|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|flight-deck-cabin-aircraft-event-smoke-fire-fumes-odor

Synopsis

Air carrier Captain reported a burning plastic odor during descent with no aircraft indications. The flight crew diverted where a safe landing was completed.

Narrative

A burning plastic odor was detected on the flight deck by the FO and myself as we were crossing ZZZZZ at FL 240 on the ZZZZZ arrival into ZZZ. No ECAM smoke or fire related messages were displayed.The cabin crew immediately called to notify us that customers and themselves were detecting the same burning plastic odor near row XX. It's associated overhead bin was very hot to the touch by two different F/As; but no smoke was visible. Customers were being relocated to other seats; away from the affected row.I [requested priority handling] with ZZZ center and diverted to ZZZ1. The cabin crew was briefed; and provided them an ETE of 10 minutes before landing. The FO and I briefed that he was still the PF; to coordinate with ATC as I would be focused on the cabin; that we will transfer controls prior to turning final; and that we will stop the aircraft on the runway to assess the cabin situation before continuing.The odor intensified. I began reaching for the crew O2 mask and contemplated running the smoke / fume removal QRH. But it quickly stabilized and began to decrease afterwards. The odor was not causing significant irritation to the eyes; nose or throat. We therefore prioritized getting on the ground as soon as possible.The cabin crew reported that the row XX overhead bin was still hot; but the burning plastic odor had decreased. However; they received conflicting reports from customers who claimed that they felt heat coming from underneath. I checked the cargo smoke panel and verified that the smoke lights were not illuminated. ATC cleared us for the visual XXR. The touchdown was normal and under max landing weight. The burnt plastic odor continued to persist during the decent and landing.After touchdown; I applied max manual braking and set the parking brake to ON after coming to a complete stop. The cabin crew reported that the hot overhead bin had cooled off; but the burnt plastic smell persisted. An evacuation was not warranted; therefore we proceeded to taxi to the gate.Nearing the gate; the odor on the flight deck had mostly dissipated. One of the first persons to board the aircraft was a security inspector. She detected the residual burnt plastic odor; starting on the flight deck to row XX. She did not detect the odor beyond row XX. She performed a quick search of the bags in the overhead bin of row XX; but found no indications of fire or heat damage to neither bags or bin.The burnt plastic odor discrepancy was documented into the aircraft's maintenance log. The odor was described to assist tech ops in troubleshooting. The FO and I declared ourselves fatigued. During the de-brief with the cabin crew; it appeared that the burning plastic odor decreased after the flight attendant had de-selected the IFE (In-flight entertainment)/ PED (Personal Electronic Device) system.

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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.