MULTIPLE PLT RPT ON DC9 AT GATE IN MSP. FLT ATTENDANT SMELLED SMOKE IN LAVATORY; FOUND CIGARETTE BUTT; BUT NO SMOKE ALARM ACTIVATED.

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AT THE GATE; JUST BEFORE DOOR CLOSING; LEAD FLT ATTENDANT CAME INTO COCKPIT AND SAID THE OTHER FLT ATTENDANT HAD SMELLED SMOKE IN ONE OF THE AFT LAVATORIES. LEAD FLT ATTENDANT WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE SMOKE ALARM IN THE LAVATORY; AS FAR AS WHY IT DIDN'T GO OFF. SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO BLOCK OFF LAVATORY. I TOLD HER THAT I DIDN'T THINK THAT THE FACT THE ALARM DIDN'T GO OFF WAS AN INDICATION THAT IT WAS INOP; BUT MUCH MORE LIKELY THAT THE LEVEL OF SMOKE WASN'T HIGH ENOUGH TO ACTIVATE THE ALARM. I ALSO TOLD HER THAT IF INDEED SHE DID FEEL IT WAS INOP; WE SHOULD WRITE IT UP AND GET IT CHKED (BY MAINT) BEFORE WE LEFT. SHE SAID SHE JUST WANTED TO 'BLOCK IT OFF.' I TOLD HER AGAIN THAT WASN'T WHAT WE SHOULD DO; AND SHE REPLIED; 'WELL THEN WE JUST WILL NOT USE IT.' WE HAD ONLY A LIGHT LOAD; SO I SAID OK AND WE LEFT. THE QUESTION REMAINS: SHOULD WE HAVE HAD THE ALARM CHKED OUT OR NOT? THERE WAS NO VISIBLE SMOKE; ONLY ODOR. A CIGARETTE BUTT WAS FOUND AND REMOVED. WE DIDN'T KNOW WHO PUT IT THERE; IT COULD HAVE BEEN A PAX OR A GND PERSON. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 449230: THE FLT ATTENDANT DIDN'T KNOW WHO (IF; IN FACT ANYONE OF THE PAX) HAD PLACED THE BUTT IN THE TRASH. SINCE THE TRASH WAS REMOVED; THE FLT CONTINUED.