Narrative:

At show time; the crew shows to a cold soaked; dark airplane. Neither electrical power; nor cabin heated air were connected to the airframe. The temperature outside was minus two degrees celsius; below freezing. The cabin and cockpit seemed in total chaos as switches and items seemed out of place; order and positions. In short; the airplane was not ready to be presented to the crew.in the cockpit we found several switches out of position; but running through procedures and checklists; it was all quickly found and put back to proper positions; places; and order. Boarding started at an appropriate time and aside from a slightly chilly cabin; we would have been out of the gate on time if it wasn't due to the jet-bridge breaking on us. After departure from the gate; it was all normal. All appropriate checklists completed; and passing 17;000ft; a loud bang was heard from the rear of the airplane. It was both; felt and heard in the cockpit. A continuous vibration followed and propagated through the entire airframe until the engine was secured. All engine indications where normal prior to this event. As the event occurred; we could confirm both by feel and engine indications that we had suffered a catastrophic engine failure. The left engine gauges confirmed a sudden N1 and N2 drop to minimum performance; further solidified by a left yaw motion. The itt and fan vibration gauges also confirmed engine failure as they quickly moved towards and beyond their respective red lines.after confirming the nature of the event as a catastrophic left engine failure; I decided to bring the airplane immediately back to [departure airport] for landing. In what seemed like a matter of 2 minutes; I passed the radios to first officer (first officer) with instructions to take us back; I communicated [the issue] to ATC; yielded control of the airplane to first officer; and talked to [the] flight attendants (flight attendant) about our situation and intentions. After communicating to my immediate crew; I proceeded to address the passengers and alert the rest of our ground crew about the situation commencing with dispatch via ACARS.having freed myself from as many duties as possible; I followed procedure with the emergency checklist card; severe engine damage (in flight); followed as directed by the QRH in-flight engine shutdown; and later the single engine approach and landing checklists. All emergency and non-normal checklists completed; I followed up with first officer; then with [the] flight attendant's and the passengers.after communicating with everyone for a second time; I proceeded with all normal checklists and procedures. Upon conclusion; we were already on final approach at the same runway we took off from. We landed normally with flaps at 20 degrees; as per non-normal procedures. Then we executed a gradual deceleration and stop; exiting near the far end of the runway towards the terminal. After exiting the runway I communicated with the fas; then the passengers; then back to first officer who I left communicating with ATC; and operations. From here we taxied uneventfully back to the same departure gate and deplaned the passengers.in conclusion; all pertinent checklists were completed in a timely fashion as per procedures. All crew members; including ground crew members and personnel were briefed; debriefed and communicated. We successfully and safely landed with no evident crew induced damage to the airframe; or injury to passengers.captain decisions and crew action results:one overweight landing at 76;100 pounds.one overheated brake condition:left main outboard gauge white at 07Left main inboard gauge white at 06Right main both gauges green a safe return of all passengers uninjured to the gate.a safe return of the airframe to an outstation without any evident damage induced by the crew.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-900 Captain reported returning to departure airport after experiencing inflight catastrophic failure of the left engine.

Narrative: At show time; the crew shows to a cold soaked; dark airplane. Neither electrical power; nor cabin heated air were connected to the airframe. The temperature outside was minus two degrees celsius; below freezing. The cabin and cockpit seemed in total chaos as switches and items seemed out of place; order and positions. In short; the airplane was not ready to be presented to the crew.In the cockpit we found several switches out of position; but running through procedures and checklists; it was all quickly found and put back to proper positions; places; and order. Boarding started at an appropriate time and aside from a slightly chilly cabin; we would have been out of the gate on time if it wasn't due to the jet-bridge breaking on us. After departure from the gate; it was all normal. All appropriate checklists completed; and passing 17;000ft; a loud bang was heard from the rear of the airplane. It was both; felt and heard in the cockpit. A continuous vibration followed and propagated through the entire airframe until the engine was secured. All engine indications where normal prior to this event. As the event occurred; we could confirm both by feel and engine indications that we had suffered a catastrophic engine failure. The left engine gauges confirmed a sudden N1 and N2 drop to minimum performance; further solidified by a left yaw motion. The ITT and Fan Vibration gauges also confirmed engine failure as they quickly moved towards and beyond their respective red lines.After confirming the nature of the event as a Catastrophic Left Engine Failure; I decided to bring the airplane immediately back to [departure airport] for landing. In what seemed like a matter of 2 minutes; I passed the radios to First Officer (FO) with instructions to take us back; I communicated [the issue] to ATC; yielded control of the airplane to FO; and talked to [the] Flight Attendants (FA) about our situation and intentions. After communicating to my immediate crew; I proceeded to address the passengers and alert the rest of our ground crew about the situation commencing with Dispatch via ACARS.Having freed myself from as many duties as possible; I followed procedure with the Emergency Checklist Card; Severe Engine Damage (In Flight); followed as directed by the QRH In-Flight Engine Shutdown; and later the Single Engine Approach and Landing checklists. All emergency and non-normal checklists completed; I followed up with FO; then with [the] FA's and the passengers.After communicating with everyone for a second time; I proceeded with all normal checklists and procedures. Upon conclusion; we were already on final approach at the same runway we took off from. We landed normally with flaps at 20 Degrees; as per non-normal procedures. Then we executed a gradual deceleration and stop; exiting near the far end of the runway towards the terminal. After exiting the runway I communicated with the FAs; then the passengers; then back to FO who I left communicating with ATC; and Operations. From here we taxied uneventfully back to the same departure gate and deplaned the passengers.In conclusion; all pertinent checklists were completed in a timely fashion as per procedures. All crew members; including ground crew members and personnel were briefed; debriefed and communicated. We successfully and safely landed with no evident crew induced damage to the airframe; or injury to passengers.Captain decisions and crew action results:One overweight landing at 76;100 pounds.One overheated brake condition:Left Main Outboard gauge white at 07Left Main Inboard gauge white at 06Right Main both gauges green A safe return of all passengers uninjured to the gate.A safe return of the airframe to an outstation without any evident damage induced by the crew.

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.