Narrative:

I was the pilot not flying on this leg. Enroute at FL200 we received an 'elevator fault' caution message on the EICAS along with 'autopilot fail' caution message. I pulled out the QRH while the first officer was hand flying the airplane. As I started to read the QRH; ATC gave us a crossing restriction to cross [an] intersection at 12000 ft and 280 kts. Since the first officer was hand flying; I read back the instruction and programmed the FMS along with the alt selection. At that point; I went back to the QRH; but without realizing that I went to the QRH procedure for elevator lh (rh) fail. This procedure starts off with [advising ATC] and landing at the nearest suitable airport. Therefore; I [advised] ATC. I also advised our flight attendants of the situation and asked them to prepare the cabin for landing. When I returned to the QRH; I realized my mistake and looked up on the EICAS to double check the caution message which read 'elevator fault'. I told the first officer of the mistake and immediately ran the correct procedure for elevator fault by cycling the elevator mode switch. Both messages were cleared and the fault went away. I told ATC that our fault went away and [we no longer needed assistance]. ATC [confirmed] and gave us further instructions for approach. I also advised the flight attendants. By this time we were descending to 8000 ft. We landed without further incident and upon landing received a flight control no dispatch caution message. After pulling into the gate I advised maintenance control and made the proper log book entry. Slow down and take time when reading the QRH procedure. Especially pay attention to similar sounding titles like fault or fail. It is very easy to start reading the wrong checklist especially when multiple EICAS messages are displayed and in this case one said fault and other fail.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ERJ-175 Captain reported he mistakenly found himself in the wrong QRH procedure following an 'Elevator Fault' EICAS alert.

Narrative: I was the pilot not flying on this leg. Enroute at FL200 we received an 'Elevator Fault' caution message on the EICAS along with 'Autopilot fail' caution message. I pulled out the QRH while the First Officer was hand flying the airplane. As I started to read the QRH; ATC gave us a crossing restriction to cross [an] intersection at 12000 ft and 280 kts. Since the First Officer was hand flying; I read back the instruction and programmed the FMS along with the alt selection. At that point; I went back to the QRH; but without realizing that I went to the QRH procedure for Elevator LH (RH) fail. This procedure starts off with [advising ATC] and landing at the nearest suitable airport. Therefore; I [advised] ATC. I also advised our flight attendants of the situation and asked them to prepare the cabin for landing. When I returned to the QRH; I realized my mistake and looked up on the EICAS to double check the caution message which read 'Elevator Fault'. I told the First Officer of the mistake and immediately ran the correct procedure for Elevator Fault by cycling the elevator mode switch. Both messages were cleared and the fault went away. I told ATC that our fault went away and [we no longer needed assistance]. ATC [confirmed] and gave us further instructions for approach. I also advised the Flight attendants. By this time we were descending to 8000 ft. We landed without further incident and upon landing received a Flight Control No Dispatch caution message. After pulling into the gate I advised maintenance control and made the proper log book entry. Slow down and take time when reading the QRH procedure. Especially pay attention to similar sounding titles like fault or fail. It is very easy to start reading the wrong checklist especially when multiple EICAS messages are displayed and in this case one said fault and other fail.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.