Passenger reports on his involvement in an electrical fumes incident over the Atlantic in a B777. He observed that the entertainment system failed at about the same time as the odor commenced the system was shutdown and flight continued to destination.

Narrative

During cruise over the Atlantic; several flight attendants and a non-uniformed person (presumably an air marshal) gathered in the aisle. It became clear that they were searching for the source of an electrical/burning odor. At the same time; I noted that both my in-flight entertainment system and that of the seat next to me were malfunctioning. I notified the flight attendants that I suspected a link between the two (I am an aerospace engineer familiar with previous IFE incidents). They soon turned off the entertainment system; and the consensus shortly thereafter was that the burning odor had subsided. Crucially from a safety standpoint; they kept the system off for the remainder of the flight despite the inconvenience to passengers. Upon landing; one Flight Attendant remarked that the electrical problems had; at one stage; caused some equipment in the rear lavatories and in the galleys to malfunction; but it is not clear whether these problems were related. I am not sure if my IFE observation led to the shutdown of the system; but I hope that flight attendants are trained to think about the IFE as a potential source of electrical problems -- acting quickly may be critical in preventing fire that is especially dangerous when the aircraft is far from land.