Narrative:

After takeoff through about 500 feet we received an EICAS message pt (pitch trim) main inoperative. The first officer was flying and his pitch trim on his yoke would not work. We climbed to 5000 feet and asked ATC to run some checklists for an issue we had. He gave us vectors and I ran the QRH for the pt main inoperative message. After the checklist was complete we had the backup trim available to us and per the QRH decided to continue to ZZZ1. I notified ATC that we were able to continue on to ZZZ1 and he gave us a clearance to climb to 12000 feet. After I read back the instructions the first officer said he smelled smoke. I look over his head at the rear of the flight deck and could visibly see smoke. It was not thick and I could see through it easily. I called the flight attendant and asked if she saw smoke in the cabin. She said that she could see smoke in the cabin. I said ok and that I would call her back. The first officer and myself donned our oxygen masks and established communications. I notified ATC and needed to return to ZZZ. The smoke did not get any thicker or dissipate at this time. I called the flight attendant and told her [everything] and that we would be on the ground in ZZZ in less than 5 minutes. I prepared for our approach for ILS xxr. We landed without incident and exited at a taxiway and asked for the fire trucks to follow the aircraft and look for smoke or flames. They said they would do that. At that time I informed them on ATC frequency that we had no indications on the aircraft of a fire; only smoke in the flight deck and cabin. By this time the smoke had dissipated on the flight deck but there was still a strong odor. We continued to taxi to the gate with the fire trucks following. Once at the gate I made an announcement to the passengers that we had experienced an issue after takeoff that was not something that was needed to continue to ZZZ1 but that while we were doing our checklists for the original issue we noticed smoke in the flight deck and decided at that time to return to ZZZ and get the aircraft safely on the ground. The passengers deplaned and did not to appear distressed in any way and many actually made comment to the contrary as to 'how short the flight was' and thanking us for 'getting us on the ground safely'. After talking to the flight attendant after all the passengers were off the aircraft she said that none were stressed or overly concerned.smoke in cockpit and cabin was a very large threat. We worked together very well to stop errors that may have occurred from the hurried actions to get the airplane on the ground safely.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB145 Captain reported smoke in the cockpit and cabin. They returned to the departure airport.

Narrative: After takeoff through about 500 feet we received an EICAS message PT (Pitch Trim) MAIN INOP. The First Officer was flying and his pitch trim on his yoke would not work. We climbed to 5000 feet and asked ATC to run some checklists for an issue we had. He gave us vectors and I ran the QRH for the PT MAIN INOP message. After the checklist was complete we had the backup trim available to us and per the QRH decided to continue to ZZZ1. I notified ATC that we were able to continue on to ZZZ1 and he gave us a clearance to climb to 12000 feet. After I read back the instructions the First Officer said he smelled smoke. I look over his head at the rear of the flight deck and could visibly see smoke. It was not thick and I could see through it easily. I called the Flight Attendant and asked if she saw smoke in the cabin. She said that she could see smoke in the cabin. I said ok and that I would call her back. The First Officer and myself donned our oxygen masks and established communications. I notified ATC and needed to return to ZZZ. The smoke did not get any thicker or dissipate at this time. I called the FA and told her [everything] and that we would be on the ground in ZZZ in less than 5 minutes. I prepared for our approach for ILS XXR. We landed without incident and exited at a taxiway and asked for the fire trucks to follow the aircraft and look for smoke or flames. They said they would do that. At that time I informed them on ATC frequency that we had NO indications on the aircraft of a fire; only smoke in the flight deck and cabin. By this time the smoke had dissipated on the flight deck but there was still a strong odor. We continued to taxi to the gate with the fire trucks following. Once at the gate I made an announcement to the passengers that we had experienced an issue after takeoff that was not something that was needed to continue to ZZZ1 but that while we were doing our checklists for the original issue we noticed smoke in the flight deck and decided at that time to return to ZZZ and get the aircraft safely on the ground. The passengers deplaned and did not to appear distressed in any way and many actually made comment to the contrary as to 'how short the flight was' and thanking us for 'getting us on the ground safely'. After talking to the FA after all the passengers were off the aircraft she said that none were stressed or overly concerned.Smoke in cockpit and cabin was a very large threat. We worked together very well to stop errors that may have occurred from the hurried actions to get the airplane on the ground safely.

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.